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The earnings of half of the country's 30 listed banks declined during the first half of this year (H1) as compared to the same period of previous year, mainly due to increased non-performing loans (NPLs).
According to the un-audited financial statements for January-June 2018, the consolidated earnings per share (EPS) of the other half, however, increased during the period under review.
EPS is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. In short, it serves as an indicator of a company's profitability.
Mutual Trust, Pubali, Bank Asia, Jamuna, Southeast, National, NCC, Dutch-Bangla, Social Islami, Brac, Premier, Islami, Shahjalal, Dhaka and Mercantile registered increased EPS in January-June 2018.
Of them, Mutual Trust Bank's EPS posted the highest rise of 105 per cent to Tk 1.52 in January-June 2018 period.
On the other hand, ONE, Standard, Exim, Al-Arafah, AB, Trust, First Security, Rupali, Uttara, IFIC, City, Eastern, UCB, Prime and ICB Islami Bank saw their EPS decline, according to statistics from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
ONE Bank's EPS declined the most, by 78 per cent year-on-year to Tk 0.40 in January-June period 2018.
Meanwhile, ICB Islami Bank saw higher losses in January-June 2018 period.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, eroded 839 points, or 13 per cent in the first six months of the year.
The heavyweight banking sector also witnessed a substantial fall in its share price and market capitalisation in the first six months of the year due to investors' lack of confidence in banks.
Market insiders said the NPLs in the banking sector were ballooning, which might have affected the investors' confidence.