Banks' first-quarter profit rises 46 percent to Rs 19.14 billion as provisions fall

Commercial banks' first-quarter profit rises 46 percent to Rs 19.14 billion as provisions fall

Nepal's 20 commercial banks made a combined net profit of Rs 19.14 billion in the first quarter of FY 2083/84, Clickmandu and OnlineKhabar reported from the banks' unaudited results. That is 45.59 percent more than the roughly Rs 13.15 billion they earned in the same quarter a year earlier. The quarter ran from Saun to Asoj, mid-July to mid-October.

Net interest income, what banks earn on loans less what they pay on deposits, rose only about 1 percent, to about Rs 49.68 billion. Provisions for bad loans fell to about Rs 11 billion from about Rs 20 billion, Clickmandu reported.

Bad loans went the other way. The average non-performing loan ratio reached 5.64 percent, against 4.86 percent a year earlier, Merolagani reported. Prabhu Bank had the highest ratio, at 14.8 percent, and Everest Bank the lowest, at 0.5 percent. Five banks had negative distributable profit and three were below the 8.5 percent minimum for primary capital, Kantipur reported. Prabhu, Himalayan and NIC Asia were in both groups.

Siddhartha Bank's profit rose about 163 percent to Rs 851.6 million, Clickmandu and Bizshala reported. Global IME Bank earned Rs 2.31 billion, up about 24.5 percent, Clickmandu said. Profit fell at three banks, according to Bizshala: Prime Commercial by 5.62 percent to Rs 1.19 billion, Himalayan by 6.84 percent to Rs 654.8 million and Standard Chartered by about 3 percent to Rs 671.4 million.

Why it matters: The figures are the banks' own unaudited statements, and no central bank table of the totals was found. A year earlier the same banks' first-quarter profit had fallen about 19 percent, to Rs 13.15 billion from Rs 16.19 billion, Kantipur reported then.

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Gold falls Rs 8,300 to Rs 272,000 a tola

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Silver fell Rs 175 to Rs 3,650 a tola. The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, which sets the price, put the fall down to a sharp drop on the international market, OnlineKhabar English reported. Friday's price had itself been Rs 3,200 below Thursday's Rs 283,500, Kantipur reported on Friday.

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Birgunj customs handled 48 percent of first-quarter imports

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Department of Foreign Employment puts pending fraud cases above 30,000, OnlineKhabar reports

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Darchula traders return from Taklakot after a four-month season, Kantipur reports

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Electricity authority puts the Keraun substation in Morang into operation

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Road division ends three stalled contracts in Rautahat

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