Corporate results: Habib Bank profits march upwards

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited profits firmed 25 per cent to Rs9.29 billion in the first half of 2011 on the back of better revenue across the table.

Interest earned rose by 16 per cent to Rs45 billion while non-interest income rose 17 per cent to Rs6.53 billion, according to a notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange.

The result is lower than analyst expectation as they expected net profit, on average, to be around Rs9.5 billion. The second largest bank’s stock price fell Rs1.94 to stand at Rs116.43 at the Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The board of directors in a meeting held on Friday did not declare any dividend along with the result.

The second largest bank performed much better than the largest bank National Bank of Pakistan’s profit that announced increase in profit by three per cent to Rs8.09 billion, according to its unconsolidated results issued on Wednesday.

However, 46% rise in provisions to Rs4.7 billion and 10% growth in operating expenses partially diluted the benefit from top-line growth.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2011.