ABL profit up 11pc in CY19

KARACHI: Allied Bank Limited (ABL) on Friday reported a profit of Rs14.488 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, which is 11 percent higher than Rs13.031 billion, posted for the full-year 2018.

The bank in a statement said it translated into an EPS (earning per share) of Rs12.65 for the period under review, which was Rs11.38 in 2018.

The bank announced a Final Cash Dividend for the period under review at Rs2/share, equivalent to 20 percent, being in addition to Interim Dividend already paid at Rs6/share, equivalent to 60 percent.

The statement said net interest income of the bank settled at Rs41.5 billion for CY19, increasing 29 percent year-on-year, while accelerating by a massive 27 percent quarter-on-quarter, owing primarily to an 8 percent quarter-on-quarter downturn in interest expense, attributable to a possible decline in Repo Borrowing.

Banks had leveraged their balance sheet significantly in 3Q due to expectations of a rate cut in the near future, which did not materialise.

Arif Habib Limited in their analysis said “Healthy capital gains were booked worth Rs853 million most likely on equities which helped fuel NFI (non-funded income) by 25 percent QoQ. Fee income and dividend income also saw a spike of 23 percent and 17 percent QoQ respectively”.