UBL Deposits Cross Rs. 1 Trillion Mark

United Bank Limited (UBL) has become the third bank in Pakistan with a deposits base of more than Rs. 1 trillion in the overall banking industry, supported by its growing network of branches and increasing number of customers countrywide.

The bank attained this benchmark recently by the end of first half of 2017, according to its financial reports.

Previously, Habib Bank of Pakistan (HBL) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were the two banks which achieved this mark. HBL is the highest with deposits value of more than Rs. 2 trillion, followed by National Bank of Pakistan with more than Rs. 1.5 trillion in deposits.

Other banks that may just cross this milestone as well include:

• MCB Bank, which is likely to attain this benchmark in the next couple of months. MCB Bank deposits base stood at less than Rs 900 billion which are going to get increased with the transfer of billions of deposits from NIB Bank after they both merged.
• Allied Bank Limited (ABL) having deposits of less than Rs. 900 billion currently.

It is an encouraging sign that the banks achieved this benchmark despite low deposit / offer rates prevailing in the banking industry.

The deposits of UBL continued to go up. On the other hand, the deposits of the banking industry touched Rs 11.9 trillion.

UBL’s mobilization of the deposits mainly come from current and saving accounts besides various saving products and instruments with long-term deposit bonds.

The breakout of the deposits suggested that overall deposits comprises of:

• Rs. 464 million from the customers who maintain non-profit current accounts;
• Rs. 380 million deposits comes from saving accounts;
• Rs.319 million are being maintained in fixed deposits (various term deposit certificates).
• There are financial institutions having deposits in different accounts of UBL including Rs. 33.2 million in remunerative accounts and Rs.12.6 million in non-remunerative accounts, and etc.

Strong current account mobilization remains the core of the bank’s liability strategy.

UBL Profit of H1 2017

UBL reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 13.24 billion in H1 2017, a reduction of 7% over the corresponding period last year. The drop in the profit was attributed to the low interest income and super tax which was also extended in the current financial year by the government.

The earnings per share (EPS) amounted to Rs. 10.82 (H1’16: Rs. 11.68).

On a consolidated basis, the net markup income stood at Rs 28.01 billion for the half year ended June 2017, which is 4% lower in comparison to H1 2016.  The bank’s non-markup income constituted 31% of gross revenues and was recorded at Rs 12.35 billion during the half year ended June 30, 2017.

Contributing 48% to overall non-markup income, fees and commissions stood at Rs. 5.91 billion during first half of the year, down 7% when compared to H1 2016.

UBL’s corporate service charges saw a 22% increase over the previous year, whereas cash management commissions grew by 13%. ATM / Debit cards continued to generate steady fee revenues, growing by 8% over the corresponding period last year.