ABL profits up 13.7%, amount to Rs4.8b

KARACHI:

After-tax profit of Allied Bank Limited (ABL) for Jan-Mar amounted to Rs4.8 billion, up 13.7% from a year ago, a stock filing said on Tuesday.

The year-on-year increase in the consolidated earnings of ABL was above market expectations. The bank also announced a cash dividend of Rs1.75 per share.

There was a marked reduction in the provisions that the bank made in Jan-Mar. Provisions against loans and advances amounted to Rs276.1 million, down 62.1% from a year ago. It resulted in post-provisions net interest income (NII) of Rs8.2 billion, which was up 6% from NII recorded in the first quarter of 2015.

Non-interest income of ABL increased 11.1% from a year ago to Rs12 billion while the rise in non-interest expense clocked up at 7% in Jan-Mar.

According to AKD Securities, flattish NII should be a concern for ABL particularly when peer banks have mostly grown it in Jan-Mar.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th,  2016.

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