MCB Bank posts highest-ever 1H PBT of Rs62.7 billion
The Board of Directors of MCB Bank Limited (MCB) in its meeting under the Chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha, on Wednesday, reviewed performance of the Bank and approved the condensed interim financial statements for the half year ended June 30, 2024.
The Board of Directors has declared 2nd interim cash dividend of Rs. 9.0 per share i.e. 90pc, in addition to 90pc already paid, bringing the total cash dividend for the half year ended June 30, 2024 to 180 percent.
Through focused efforts of the Bank’s management in building nocost deposits base and optimizing its earning assets mix, MCB’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the 1st half of 2024 increased to Rs 62.7 billion with a growth of 16 percent.
Profit After Tax (PAT) posted a growth of 20 percent to reach Rs 31.9 billion; translating into Earning Per Share (EPS) of Rs 26.95 compared to an EPS of Rs 22.52 reported in the corresponding period last year. On the back of strong volumetric growth in average current deposits and timely repositioning within the asset book, net interest income for 1H’24increased by 12 per cent over corresponding period last year.
Non-markup income increased to
Rs 18.3 billion (+30 per cent) against Rs 14.1 billion in the corresponding period last year with major contributions coming in from fee commission income of Rs 11.3 billion (+29 per cent), foreign exchange income of Rs 4.9 billion (+38 per cent) and dividend income of Rs. 1.7 billion (+13 per cent).
Improving customer and interbank flows, diversification of revenue streams through continuous enrichment of service suite, investments towards digital transformation and an unrelenting focus on upholding high standards of service delivery supplemented a broad-based growth in income from fee commission; with trade and guarantee related business income growing by 50 percent, cards related income by 43 percent, credit related fee by 41 percent and branch banking customer fees by 20 percent.
The Bank continues to manage an efficient operating expense base and monitor costs prudently. Amidst a persistently high inflationary environment and continued investments in human resources and technological upgradation, the operating expenses of the Bank were reported at Rs 28.4 billion (+18pc). Increase was primarily on account of staff cost (+15pc), utility cost (+28pc) and IT related expenses (22pc).
The cost to income ratio of the Bank stands at 30.50 percent as compared to 29.58 percent reported in the corresponding period last year.
Navigating a challenging operating and macroeconomic environment, the Bank has been addressing asset quality issues by maintaining discipline in management of its risk return decisions.
Diversification of the loan book across customer segments and a robust credit underwriting framework that encompasses structured assessment models, effective pre-disbursement evaluation tools and an array of post disbursement monitoring systems has enabled MCB to effectively manage its credit risk; the Non-performing loan (NPLs) base of the Bankwas reported at Rs 57.0 billion as at June 30, 2024.
The coverage and infection ratios of the Bank were reported at 89.07pc and 8.64pc respectively.
On the financial position side, the total asset base of the Bank was reported at Rs 2.67 trillion with increase of 10.1 percent over Dec 2023.
Increase was contributed by 19 percent increase in investment base i.e. Rs 232 billion over Dec 2023 and 6 percent increase in advances (gross) i.e. Rs 37 billion over Dec 2023.
The Bank continued its focus on building no cost deposits, leading to a growth of Rs 110 billion (+13 per cent) in absolute current deposits during first half of 2024.
The Bank’s total deposit base stands at Rs 1.99 trillion.