Despite a slowdown in loans and advances across the banking industry, Nations Trust Bank (NTB) saw its deposits grow by 10 % and loans and advances rise by 19%, the Bank said in releasing its results for the nine months ending September 30, 2008.
According to the Central Bank, among banks deposits and loans and advances grew only by 5.2% and 3.9% respectively, during this period. “A disciplined approach to risk and capital management, managing interest margins and liquidity at optimum levels have contributed to positioning the Bank well for the remainder of 2008,” Zulfiqar Zavahir, NTB’s Director/Chief Executive Officer explained in a press release.
NTB said the Group operating profits before taxes were Rs. 851 million against Rs. 683 million for the comparable period last year. Post tax profits grew by 19% to Rs. 421 million while increased trade and forex volumes and active market participation cotributed to a 51% growth in foreign exchange income while credit cards and trade related fees and commissions boosted the other operating income by 48%. The Gross Non-performing Advances Ratio deteriorated to 6.1% in the wake of the difficult economic conditions and as a result of the new guidelines issued by the Central Bank for classification of loans and advances.
“Despite the challenging market conditions, our performance has been pleasing. While remaining focused on asset quality, risk management and cost control, we continued our investments in the strategic initiatives that were identified at the beginning of the year which were aimed at further broad-basing revenue streams.
In the light of the current global economic crisis, this takes on an even greater importance,” Mr Zavahir added. |
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