KARACHI: Bank Al-Habib Limited has announced a net profit of Rs8.45 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, which is 1.1 percent lower than the profit of Rs8.505 billion recorded in the previous year. Earnings arrived in flat mainly due to lower capital gains, surge in operating expenses owing to branch expansions, and higher provisions.
The earnings per share (EPS) for the year 2018 clocked in at Rs7.61 as against EPS of Rs7.65 in 2017. Bank Al Habib also announced a final cash dividend of Rs2.5/share along with the corporate announcement.
“We believe conservation of reserves to be the reason for a lower payout,” Mustafa Mustansar at Taurus Securities said.
Net interest income for the year stood at Rs30.9 billion, up 19 percent compared with interest income of Rs25.9 billion in the previous year.
Non-interest income also surged marginally to Rs38.08 billion in 2018 as against Rs34.13 billion earned in 2017.
Bank Al Habib posted a loss of Rs10.3 million on securities in 2018 as compared with capital gain of Rs2.79 billion in 2017. Operating expenses surged 17 percent to Rs23.26 billion in 2018 as against Rs19.84 billion in the previous year. [the_ad id=”31605″]