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Tuesday March 19, 2024

HBL’s full-year profit surges 24pc on robust credit growth

By Our Correspondent
February 20, 2020

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) on Wednesday said its profit after tax for the full year 2019 increased 24 percent to Rs15.499 billion on account of strong domestic lending as well deposits coupled with robust international business.

The bank also declared a final dividend of Rs1.25/share (12.5 percent), bringing the total dividend for the year 2019 to Rs5/share. Earnings per share for the period under review increased to Rs10.45 compared to Rs 8.22 a year earlier.

“HBL’s core business is on a strong growth trajectory. The Bank continued to support the real economy through extending credit for its growth, with domestic loans growing by 3.5 percent, ahead of market growth, to Rs945 billion,” HBL said in a statement.

HBL said total advances grew by 8 percent, to Rs1.2 trillion with a revitalisation of the bank’s international business.

“The bank remains established as the largest player in the deposits market, with a share of nearly 14 percent,” it added. The bank’s domestic deposits reached Rs2.1 trillion while total deposits crossed Rs2.4 trillion, with the CASA (Current Account Savings Account) ratio improving to 82.6 percent in December 2019.

“A Rs228 billion growth in the average balance sheet, along with better margins, resulted in the bank’s net markup income increasing by 24 percent to over Rs100 billion, which was a landmark achieved for the first time in Pakistan,” the statement said.

The bank said its leadership in fee income continued with strong contributions from trade, cards, and investment banking, while its total fees rose by 13 percent over 2018 to Rs20.4 billion with the total non-fund income growing by 21 percent to Rs24.2 billion.

The asset quality of the bank improved to 6.6 percent with its already strong coverage ratio further improving to 93.2 percent, whereas profit after tax increased by 25 percent to Rs15.5 billion.

“HBL enjoys a strong corporate and investment banking presence in Pakistan. The Bank continues to work on energy, infrastructure and power projects in ongoing efforts to promote capital market development, deepen secondary markets and provide advisory services,” the statement said.