Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Thursday announced its results for the first half of 2015, delivering a record post-tax profit of Rs 17.2 billion, growing 18 percent over the same period of 2014. Pre-tax profit surged by a massive 41 percent to Rs 31.2 billion. Consequently, earnings per share for the half year increased to Rs 11.34 as against Rs 9.88 for the first half of 2014. Along with the results, the Board declared a dividend of Rs 3.50 per share for the quarter.
HBL's Balance Sheet has crossed the Rs 2 trillion mark, growing by 12 percent over December 2014, with current accounts now forming an impressive 36.5 percent of total deposits. Net interest income for the half year increased by 23 percent,to Rs 39.3 billion, driven by a phenomenal 24 percent growth in average domestic current accounts.
Non-markup income increased sharply by 60 percent to Rs 18.1 billion as fees and commissions increased by 43 percent with outstanding contributions from trade, remittances, Bancassurance and investment banking. This also included Rs 5.9 billion in capital gains realised by HBL from sales of equity and debt securities. Overall revenue reached a new high, crossing Rs 57 billion.
Administrative expenses increased by 16 percent over the corresponding six months of 2014 due to continued investment by the Bank in its people, brand and technology. In line with its objective of financial inclusion, HBL remains committed to providing access to financial services throughout Pakistan and now offers alternate distribution through over 1,800 ATMs and over 7,000 POS terminals, in addition to more than 1,600 branches in Pakistan. Despite the investments, the cost/income ratio reduced to 41.3 percent compared to 47.2 percent in H1 2014.
With a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 15.7 percent, and a Return on Equity of 20 percent, HBL remains financially robust. During the quarter, HBL's credit ratings were re-affirmed by JCR-VIS at AAA/A-1+ for long term and short term respectively. In addition, Moody's also upgraded HBL's baseline credit assessment from caa1 to b3 and its local and foreign currency ratings from Caa1 to B3 and Caa2 to Caa1 respectively.-PR
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