'It has reported a profit before tax of
The bank's operating profit before taxes on financial services for the quarter increased by 22 per cent reflecting solid overall core banking performance, effective assets and liabilities management and excellence in NPL management, although prudential impairment provisioning undermined the bank's operating profits to an extent.
The bank consciously increased impairment provision buffers during Q1 to deal with probable general deterioration in asset quality due to the impact of COVID 19 pandemic. As a result, the total impairment charge for the quarter increased by 46 per cent to record
The bank's net interest margins improved from 4.36 per cent to 4.78 per cent during the past three months which is a 'commendable feat' given the industry-wide deterioration in credit quality and steps taken by the government to bring down market interest rates despite the increased credit risk of borrowers.
The bank's total asset base stood at
Customer deposits recorded a growth of 6 per cent or
Commenting on the quarterly performance, the bank's Director/CEO,
© Pakistan Press International, source