Earnings: ABL clocks up Rs15.2b profit, up 2.8%

KARACHI:

Net profit of Allied Bank (ABL) for 2014 stood at Rs15.2 billion, which is 2.8% higher than the bank’s earnings for 2013.

In a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, ABL also announced a final cash dividend of Rs2 per share, taking full-year payout to Rs6.5 per share.

ABL’s net interest income in 2014 increased 30% mainly on the back of hefty investments in high-yield Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs), according to Taurus Securities.

Non mark-up income of ABL rose 33% because of capital gains amounting to approximately Rs4 billion that were realised in 2014. However, provisioning of Rs1.6 billion and normalisation of tax expenses kept the earnings growth in check, Taurus Securities said.

ABL’s pre-tax profit recorded a massive increase of over 50% in 2014, but the deduction of tax expenses to the tune of Rs7.2 billion dented the growth in the bank’s bottom line.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th,  2015.

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