Earnings of listed commercial banks showed a mixed trend in the first six months this year with half of the banks posting growth in net profit.

Net profit of the remaining banks declined during January-June, compared to the same period last year, according to the banks' half-yearly disclosures made public recently.

The growth in the earnings was mainly from core banking business, which got a momentum after the liquidity crisis has been eased this year, especially in the second quarter, bankers said.

Commission from LC (letter of credit) opening and remittances, strong monetary recovery and integrated treasury management also helped 14 banks earn higher amount this year, they said.

However, they said many banks could not achieve the target of profit margin due to loan provisioning for non-performing loans and a sluggish stockmarket.

Of the 30 listed banks on the stockmarket, 15 posted a decline in net profit.

Banks had a severe liquidity crisis a year ago, but now there is no such crisis, said Mohammed Haider Ali Miah, managing director of EXIM Bank.

The bank's net profit jumped by 82 percent during the period, the highest among all banks.

In the first six months this year, the bank's net profit was Tk 92.99 crore against Tk 51.09 crore in the same period last year.

“The banks with more export-import related business made higher profits this year,” he said.

“Besides, we focused on strong monetary recovery system, and an integrated treasury management helped us make the highest profit,” he said.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Pubali Bank, said the banks that had to keep aside lesser amount of money for loan provisioning posted more profit.

“The banks with higher non-performing loans made lesser profit,” he said.

He also said there was a time when the banks made hefty profits from the stockmarket, but now the situation is different.

“The sluggish stockmarket also forced many banks to go for provisioning,” he added.

EXIM Bank apart, Standard Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, SIBL, MTBL, Jamuna Bank, Islami Bank, Mercantile Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, DBBL, Rupali Bank, BRAC Bank, First Security Islami Bank and Pubali Bank registered an increase in net profit between 3.72 percent and 52.83 percent.

The banks that saw a decline in their net profit are Dhaka Bank, IFIC Bank, Premier Bank, National Bank, One Bank, UCBL, Bank Asia, NCC Bank, City Bank, AB Bank, Prime Bank, Eastern Bank, Southeast Bank, Trust Bank and Uttara Bank.

The banks' income mainly comes from two areas -- core banking and capital market investment.

“As the present scenario of the capital market is not good, almost all the banks incurred losses from stock investment,” said Fazlur Rahman, managing director of AB Bank.

Many of them also had to go for loan provisioning due to stockmarket investment, he said.

Although the core banking business was good, it was not enough to offset the losses.

ICB Islami Bank's accumulated loss came down to Tk 8.41 crore in the first half this year, which was Tk 91.32 crore in the same period last year.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/  13th Aug 2012