Barclays bank says Q1 net profit rises to 965m

Posted by BankInfo on Wed, May 07 2014 01:38 pm

LONDON: British bank Barclays said Tuesday that net profit rose 15 percent in the first quarter, aided by its retail, credit card and corporate banking divisions.

Earnings after taxation climbed to 965 million ($1.6 billion, 1.2 billion euros) in the three months to the end of March, compared with 839 million in the same part of 2013, Barclays said in a results statement.

However, the lender added that adjusted pre-tax profit, stripping out fluctuations in the value of the bank’s own debt and provisions to reimburse customers for mis-sold products, sank 5.0 percent to 1.69 billion in the quarter.

The drop in adjusted profits was sparked by an ongoing slowdown in fixed- income trading at the group’s investment banking arm.

The results were published ahead of the group’s strategy update that will be unveiled on Thursday by chief executive Antony Jenkins.

“A continued strong momentum across our retail, cards and corporate banking franchises, all of which generated higher returns year on year, offset by a significant decline in FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities) income within the investment bank, resulting in group adjusted profit before tax decreasing 5.0 percent,” Jenkins added in the statement. — AFP 

News:Daily Sun/7-May-2014

Inauguration ceremony of 6th branch of NBL Money Transfer held

Posted by BankInfo on Wed, May 07 2014 01:30 pm

Komtar in Penang, Malaysia – The 6th Branch of NBL Money Transfer inaugurated at Komtar in Penang, Malaysia recently. Parveen Haque Sikder, Director & Chairperson, Executive committee, National Bank Limited inaugurated the branch as Chief Guest, reports in a press release.
Ms. Lisa Fatema Haque, Director of NBL Money Transfer, A K M Shafiqur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, Shamsul Huda Khan, Deputy Managing Director, Mir Mosharref Hossain, Vice President of National Bank Ltd. and Sk. Akhter Uddin Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of NBL Money Transfer Sdn Bhd, Malaysia were also present on the occasion.
A large number of Bangladeshi expatriates, lives in Malaysia also attended the inaugural ceremony. Parveen Haque Sikder also exchanged her views with the Bangladeshi Expatriates residing in Malaysia & motivated them to remit their hard earned money through NBL Money Transfer to Bangladesh and also has requested them to open account with National Bank Limited, Bangladesh.
NBL Money Transfer was established in the year 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of National Bank Limited. Since inception the company is managed by National Bank Limited, Bangladesh.

News:Bangladesh Today/7-May-2014

A Training Course on “Bank’s Audit & Inspection” organised Pubali Bank Ltd held

Posted by BankInfo on Wed, May 07 2014 01:21 pm

Dhaka- Training Course on “Bank’s Audit & Inspection” for the Officials of Pubali Bank Ltd. jointly organised by Human Resources Division of the Bank and Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) was held recently. Managing Director & CEO of Pubali Bank Ltd. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury was present as Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of the course. Md. Ataur Rahman, Executive Director, BBTA presided over the ceremony. Syed Aziz Ahmed, GM, HRD, Pubali Bank Ltd. and A.K.M. Fazlur Rahman, GM, BBTA were also present at the ceremony.
In His speech, Managing Director of Pubali Bank Ltd. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury thanked Executive Director of BBTA Md. Ataur Rahman and BBTA authority for arranging the course for the Officials of Pubali Bank. Mr. Chowdhury termed audit as complementary to banking and urged officers to pay much importance. He said, auditors will have not only to find fault of the branches at the time of auditing but also to give guidelines so that the faults never to be happened again. He advised all officers to abide by the rules and regulations of Bangladesh Bank and other regulatory bodies. He also said, everybody has to pay special attention so that the objections filed in the various audit report of the branches would never happen in next time. Answers to the objections of audit have to be clear and based on data for the settlement in a quick time, he added.
In His speech, Executive Director of BBTA Md. Ataur Rahman said, this course for Pubali Bank has specially enriched with audit related data that will ultimately help the officers. He thanked the trainees for participating in the course and told them to utilize the knowledge acquired here in profession.
A.B.M. Zahurul Huda, DGM of BBTA was the Course Director. Deputy Directors of BBTA- Ahmed Zubaer Mahbub and Md. Fazle Rabbi were in the course co-ordination team. 25 (twenty five) Officers of the bank participated in the Training Course.

News:Bangladesh Today/7-May-2014

Foreign banks asked to invest in SMEs

Posted by BankInfo on Wed, May 07 2014 12:00 pm

The central bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Tuesday asked the foreign commercial banks to allocate financial assistance in country’s SME sector.
“Allocation of more funds will encourage the SME stakeholders,” said the central bank governor while addressing a national level seminar titled Sustainable business model for SME banking organised by the SME Foundation. Held at Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA), the seminar was also participated among others by the central bvank deputy governor Md Abul Quasem, former deputy governor Khandker Ibrahim Khaled, SME Foundation’s managing director Dr Sayed Md Ihsanul Karim and the Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) Dr Taufic Ahmed Chowdhury.
Considering the importance of financial access for SME, the governor disclosed that during the last four years (2010 -2013), the financial institutions distributed Tk 262,340 crore among  18.35 lakh SME entrepreneurs. Moreover, banks have distributed Tk 754 crore to 9614 new women entrepreneurs during the period, also said the governor. 
The banks have targeted to disburse Tk 88,537 crore in SME sector in current year (2014), the governor also said. The central bank has been working with Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) for the development of new entrepreneurs, he said, adding that it has constituted a Tk 100 crore revolving fund in this regard. Association of Banker (ABB) president Ali Reza Iftekhar presented a keynote.
He also mentioned, banks have been instructed to give cluster-based SME loans for the development of region-based economically potential sectors. He said, “Thoughts should be given in the provision of cluster based loans in different parts of the country.”

News:The Independent/7-May-2014

BB lifts curbs on foreign loans for EPZ enterprises

Posted by BankInfo on Wed, May 07 2014 11:24 am

Bangladesh Bank has lifted restrictions on industrial enterprises in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) to borrow loans from overseas.
The industrial units in the EPZs will have to submit loan applications through their authorised dealer banks to Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), which will send the proposals to BB for approval, the central bank said in a notice.
For non-EPZ enterprises, a separate scrutiny panel under the Board of Investment approves foreign loans.
But enterprises in EPZs that do not fall under BOI's jurisdiction could not apply for external borrowing that costs less than local loans.
There are three types of enterprises in EPZs: fully foreign-owned, joint ventures and local companies. All companies will be able to borrow from external sources, according to the notice.

News:Daily Sun/7-May-2014
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