KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) posted an unconsolidated profit of Rs13.4 billion for January-September, up 10.8 per cent from a year ago.

In a stock filing on Thursday, NBP reported earnings per share of Rs6.31 for the nine-month period. The bank did not announce any cash dividend.

Net interest income after provisions for Jan-Sept rose 26.1pc mainly because of a drop of almost 76pc in provisioning in the period under review.

In contrast, non-interest income decreased 16.6pc to Rs20.9bn for the nine-month period.

In an official statement, NBP said its balance sheet grew 19pc in nine months to clock up at Rs1.8 trillion at the end of September. Gross advances of the bank increased 7pc to Rs737bn during the period under review.

The share price of NBP decreased 2.4pc to Rs71.62 on Thursday.

Bank Alfalah

Earnings of Bank Alfalah for the first nine months of 2016 rose 3.6 per cent year-on-year to Rs6.26 billion, according to the bank’s stock filing on Thursday.

This translates into earnings per share of Rs3.9 as opposed to Rs3.8 a year ago. It did not announce any cash dividend along with the quarterly result.

Post-provisions net interest income increased 7.3pc on an annual basis after the bank reduced its provisioning for the nine-month period by as much as 75.2pc.

According to an official statement, the banking industry witnessed maturities of investments in high-yielding government bonds that had to be replaced with avenues offering relatively lower yields in line with prevalent market rates.

The share price of Bank Alfalah shed almost 2pc to close at Rs29 on Thursday.

Faysal Bank

Faysal Bank posted a net profit of Rs3.7 billion for Jan-Sept, which is 11.4 per cent higher on an annual basis.

Markup income for the period under review decreased 20pc in the wake of low interest rates. As a result, post-provision net interest income clocked up at Rs8.6bn, down 8.4pc from a year ago.

Non-interest income of the bank for Jan-Sept increased 23.8pc year-on-year to Rs5.6bn. The notable increase in non-interest income was on the back of rising gains on the sale of securities.

The share price of Faysal Bank lost 3pc on Thursday to settle at Rs16.05 by the end of the trading session.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016