Md. Habibur Rahman was recently promoted to Deputy Managing Director of Jamuna Bank Ltd.

Prior to this position, he was Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Credit Risk Management Division of Jamuna Bank Ltd, said a press release.

After completing post-graduation in Economics from University of Chittagong, Habibur started his career as a probationary officer with Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd in 1989.

He worked in Prime Bank Ltd, Mercantile Bank Ltd and Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd at various positions in head offices and different branches.

Habibur Rahman is an active Rotarian and member of Rotary Club of Dhaka Fort.

Because there is still a big challenge ahead as curse of NPL is hovering over banks’ head’

Net profit of nearly 80% of the listed private banks have increased in the first half of this year due mainly to higher income from treasury bonds and improved import situation.

Bankers said loan rescheduling against Non-Performing Loans (NPL) have also helped increasing the net profit, but NPL is still a headache as it will have to be adjusted at the end of the year.

They, however, hoped the earnings would be better in the days to come if the political situation remains in favour of investment.

Of the 30 listed banks, the net profit of 23 marked rise, five saw a fall and two incurred losses in the January to June period, according to Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) data.

Pubali Bank Managing Director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury said some banks recovered well from their poor earnings last year hit by the political unrest.

He said the banks have earned the lion’s share of income from investment in government treasury bonds. “It gives a big support in boosting earnings as rate of interest of bonds was higher in the last quarter.”

Some supports also came from realising commission from opening LC (letter of credit) that rose in the recent months, and remittances, he said.

Imports rose by 20.7% in the last fiscal compared to the previous fiscal. In June this year, the opening of LCs posted a rise of about 31% compared with that of a negative growth of 17 % in the same month of 2013, according to Bangladesh Bank.

Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTBL) Managing Director Anis A Khan said mainly expansion, diversification and restructure of planning has helped bringing good results. “Banks’ investment in Treasury bonds with high call rate has helped recovering well in the recent times from last year’s dismal earnings.”

The banker said the impact of loan defaults, which shot up last year following a series of banking scams and political unrest, might improve this year too, if political field remains calm.

Chowdhury said rescheduling NPL in line with the central bank rules helped banks keep lower provisioning, also contributing to the profits. “But there is no reason for complacency. Because there is still a big challenge ahead as curse of NPL is hovering over banks’ head.” About NPL, Khan said it followed last year’s trend.

The banks registered increased earnings by more than 100% are MTBL, Jamuna Bank, Social Islami Bank Ltd (SIBL), National Bank and AB Bank.

The banks with increased earnings by more than 50% are UCBL, Mercantile, Exim Bank, City Bank and Al-Arafah Bank.

The banks that saw a decline in their net profit are BRAC Bank, EBL, Islami Bank, One Bank and Rupali Bank.

Shahjalal Bank incurred losses of Tk49.5 crore in the first half of this year against its net profit of Tk20.7 crore a year earlier. During the period, accumulated losses of ICB Islami Bank rose to Tk26.3 crore, which was Tk8.6 crore.

Despite majority of banks registering increased net profit, they failed to attract stock investors. Yesterday, share prices of banks – the stock market’s bellwether – dropped 0.4%.

“It is probably because of bad loan,” said Asad Khan, managing director of Prime Finance and Investment Ltd.

He said banks enjoy loan rescheduling facility against bad loan, giving a boost to income. But at the end of the year, bad loan will be adjusted with the profits. Failure in bad loan recovery means negative impact on profit.”

 NCC Bank Ltd organised a workshop on ‘Internal Control and Compliance’ for the bank’s executives and officers of ICC Division at the bank’s Training Institute in Dhaka recently.

Md. Amirul Islam, Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board of the bank attended the workshop as chief guest, said a press release.

In his speech, he emphasised on importance of Internal Control and Compliance (ICC) in banking. He also advised the participants to follow and implement the ICC guidelines meticulously.

Golam Hafiz Ahmed, Managing Director and CEO of the bank attended the workshop as special guest.

BRAC Bank was recently awarded with ‘Sustainable Marketing Excellence Award’ from CMO Asia at the annual World Brand Congress in Singapore.

The award was accorded as part of Global Brand Excellence Awards of CMO Asia, the most prestigious brands award in Asia, said a press release received on Tuesday.

The award was handed over to BRAC Bank at World Brand Congress at The Pan Pacific, Singapore recently.

Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Head of Communication and Service Quality, BRAC Bank, received the award.

On winning the award, Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director and CEO, BRAC Bank, said, “The prestigious award carries special significance for BRAC Bank as it is the first brand award for us. The award puts BRAC Bank in global spotlight in the arena of global acclaimed brands.”

“The international accolade brightens image of the country as well on global stage. It strengthens our conviction that Bangladesh can breed strong brand at par with international standard,” he added.

Bank giant HSBC said on Monday that profits fell in the first half because one-off gains were not repeated and after a weaker showing at its investment arm.
Net profit dropped to $9.746 billion (7.259 billion euros) in the six months to June 30 compared with earnings after tax totalling $10.284 billion in the first half of 2013, the British lender said in an earnings statement.
Reported profit before tax dropped to $12.3 billion as last year's first half benefited from higher gains from disposals and reclassification of HSBC's interest in China's Industrial Bank.
Pre-tax profit at HSBC's investment division dropped 12 percent to $5.0 billion in the first half.
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said that the bank's overall interim results "demonstrate the resilience" of its business model.
"Whilst regulatory uncertainty persists, our balance sheet remains strong and our continuing ability to generate capital supports both growth and our progressive dividend policy," he added in the statement.
The Asia-focused lender is pushing on with its savings programme, having announced last year plans to cut costs by a further $2.0 billion to $3.0 billion between 2014 and 2016.

Following the results, HSBC's share price was up 0.33 percent to 631.4 pence on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which trading 0.06-percent higher at 6,682.15 points in mid-morning deals.
"The FTSE 100 started the week off on sound footing, but worse-than-expected HSBC figures have dented the early momentum," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG trading group.
The bank added that underlying revenue fell 4.0 percent to $31.36 billion in the first half, while operating expenses rose 2.0 percent to $18.24 billion.
"In the first half of 2014, against a backdrop of continuing low interest rates and reduced financial market volumes, HSBC produced a suitably well-balanced financial performance," said the bank's chairman Douglas Flint.
"At a time of residual concerns over the sustainability of economic growth in many major markets and with heightened geopolitical tensions apparent, the board supported management's view that this was not the time to expand risk appetite to offset the effect of lower revenues," he added in the statement.