BoP quarterly profit up 7 percent

KARACHI: Bank of Punjab quarterly profit increased 7 percent to Rs2.044 billion for the period ended June 30, 2019 translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs0.78, a bourse filing said on Friday.

BOP earned Rs1.907 with EPS of Rs0.73 in the corresponding three months period ended earlier. The bank did not announce any interim cash dividend for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, the notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange said.

Profit was up Rs4.014 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2019 translating into EPS of Rs1.52, whereas the bank earned Rs3.850 billion with EPS of Rs1.46 in the corresponding period earlier. Net interest income (NII) of the bank settled at Rs13.1 billion improving by an impressive 42 percent YoY/1.0 percent QoQ. The sequential trend of the bank’s NII was in contrast to industry trend where most banks have witnessed a sequential decline in NII.

Low exposure to PIB’s during aggressive rates hike allowed the bank to benefit from higher yields on its assets whilst simultaneously being protected from higher MTM losses, as witnessed in banks with higher PIB exposure.

NFI of the bank saw a one percent YoY jump during the first half, where FX income contracted 75 percent YoY and fee income jumped 4.3 percent YoY. On a sequential basis the bank’s NFI portrayed a healthy jump of 26 percent led by an impressive 18 percent QoQ uptick in fee income. A net provisioning expense was booked this quarter of Rs775 million compared to net reversals SPLY. Total provisioning settled at Rs1 billion for 1HCY19.