Prime Bank reports 51pc profit growth for Q2 on higher yields of govt securities

Prime Bank has registered a 51 per cent growth in profit year-on-year in the April-June quarter this year, thanks to an increase in net interest income and higher income from government securities.

The private lender has reported a consolidated profit of Tk 1.14 billion for the three months through June, up from Tk 764 million for the same period a year before.

As a result, consolidated earnings per share stood at Tk 1.01 for the second quarter, increased from Tk 0.67 for the same quarter last year, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

In the six months to June this year, the bank's profit jumped 21 per cent year-on-year to Tk 2.18 billion.

Hassan O. Rashid, managing director & CEO of Prime Bank, could not be reached for comments.

The bank said consolidated investment income soared 93 per cent year-on-year to nearly Tk 1.20 billion in the April-June quarter because of an increase in investment in government securities and higher yield rate of such investment instruments, said the bank.

The bank's commission, exchange and brokerage income, however, dropped 54 per cent to Tk 628 million due to a decline in trading in the quarter, said the bank.

The net operating cash flow per share, which represents the cash impact of a firm's net income from its primary business activities, improved to (Tk 0.79) for the six months through June this year, from (Tk 1.26) due to a surge in deposits.

The bank's deposits grew 4.16 per cent year-on-year to reach Tk 276.78 billion at the end of June this year.

The net asset value per share, which is the value of an entity's assets minus the value of its liabilities, rose to Tk 28.56 for January-June, from Tk 26.19 for the same period a year ago.

Earlier, the bank posted a 29 per cent growth in profit to Tk 4.02 billion for 2022. Based on the profit, it disbursed 17.50 per cent cash dividend, equivalent to Tk 1.98 billion.

In terms of asset quality, the Prime Bank's non-performing loan is down to 3.42 per cent in 2022 from 4.83 per cent a year before while the industry average is 8.16 per cent.

The bank maintained the capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) at 16.78 per cent in 2022 against the central bank's requirement of 12.50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the stock price gained 0.51 per cent to close at Tk 19.70 on Monday.

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