Home ›› 17 Apr 2023 ›› Stock
Pubali Bank registered the highest net profit in the year 2022 over the previous five years although the lender’s non-performing loans (NPLs) remained high last year.
The publicly traded lender posted Tk 564.53 crore in net profit in 2022, which was nearly 30 per cent up from the profit of Tk 434.97 crore in 2021.
Meanwhile, the NPL outlay of the private commercial bank stood at over Tk 1200 crore last year against the figure of Tk 1148 crore in the previous year.
However, on the basis of percentage point, the listed company’s NPL ratio decreased from 3.05 per cent in 2021 to 2.44 per cent in 2022.
A high official of the company said they need one more year to bring down the non-performing loans to a sustainable level.
Anisur Rahman, company secretary of Pubali Bank Limited, told The Business Post that loan write-offs were higher in 2022 than those in 2021. But due to the lower recoveries against disbursements, the amount of recessionary loans remained high last year.
“Many of our clients could not pay the loan installments on time. As a result, recessionary debt increased last year. But we are trying to reduce the number of bad loans, and we hopefully reach a sustainable level by next year,” he added.
The private commercial lender made a net profit of Tk 370.68 crore in 2020, Tk 216.29 crore in 2019, Tk 362.70 crore in 2018, and Tk 5.71 crore in 2017.
Pubali Bank’s consolidated earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 5.49 for 2022 from Tk 4.23 for the previous year.
The company’s board of directors recommended a 12.50 percent cash dividend for 2022, according to the DSE filing.
In 2021, the bank also paid the same cash dividend to its shareholders.
The bank will hold an annual general meeting (AGM) on June 6. It has fixed the record date as May 11 for the share splits.
Despite the higher profit, it is not possible to give a higher dividend for 2022 due to the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) guidelines of the Bangladesh Bank, said Anisur Rahman.
The lender received regulatory approval on December 26 last year to raise Tk 700 crore through its third subordinated bond. The bond, which is non-convertible and has a floating rate of 6 to 9 percent, has been approved by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
Pubali Bank is scheduled to use the fund to strengthen its Tier 2 capital base.
The company has an authorised capital of Tk 2000 crore, while its paid-up capital base is Tk 1028 crore, and securities worth Tk 102 crore.
According to the DSE data, sponsor-directors own a 31.50 per cent stake in the company, while institutional investors own 27.75 per cent, foreign investors own 0.19 per cent, and general investors own 40.56 percent till March 2023.
