KARACHI: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on Monday announced a cash dividend of 40 per cent (Rs4 per share) and 15 per cent bonus shares after posting a record pre-tax profit of Rs26.3 billion during 2006.
According to an announcement, the board of directors of NBP which approved the annual accounts for the year ending December 31, 2006 also approved the cash payment of Rs4 on each share. The net profit surged by 38 per cent rising from Rs12.7 billion in 2005 to Rs17 billion in 2006. The Earning Per Share jumped by 34 per cent to Rs24.01 in the period under review.
Pre-tax return on equity stood at 58 per cent while pre-tax return on assets improved to 4.3 per cent and cost to income ratio of 0.32 remained in the top tier. The increase in pre-tax profit was achieved through strong growth in core banking income while interest income surged by Rs10 billion through a combination of growth in the loan portfolio across all sectors as well as increase in spread.
Bank’s advances increased by Rs49 billion due to impressive contribution by all business units and deposits surged by Rs39 billion during 2006. NBP’s loan loss provision to non-performing loans stood at 82percent.
