The Bank of Punjab (PSX: BOP) has announced a profit after tax of Rs. 11 billion for the calendar year that ended on December 31, 2023, up 4 percent year-on-year (YoY) from Rs. 10.6 billion in the same period last year.
It has also posted a profit of Rs. 5.3 billion for 4QCY23, depicting an increase of 68 percent YoY and 114 percent QoQ. According to Arif Habib Limited, this jump in overall earnings was mainly on the back of growth in total income. Along with the result, BOP announced a final dividend of Rs. 1 per share for CY23.
Net Interest Income of the bank settled at Rs. 12.9 billion during 4QCY23, increasing 62 percent YoY and 20 percent QoQ. With this, the total NII for CY23 went up to Rs. 41 billion, marking a 33 percent YoY jump. Interest earned saw a jump of 138 percent during CY23 while interest expense was up by 169 percent.
NFI depicted an increase of 115 percent YoY and 196 percent QoQ during 4QCY23, taking CY23’s total to Rs. 17.8 billion (+67 percent YoY). This jump in CY23 is primarily due to a significant 15x increase in gain on securities, clocking in at a whopping Rs. 5.3 billion.
Moreover, other income also reported a major 13.6x jump in other income during CY23, reaching Rs. 4.2 billion. On the contrary, FX and dividend income both displayed a decline during the outgoing year of 84 percent and 20 percent YoY, respectively.
Provisioning reversals for the bank clocked in at Rs. 363 million during 4QCY23 (4QCY22 reversals: Rs. 1 billion) depicting a decline of 65 percent on a YoY basis. This takes total provisioning reversals to Rs. 67 million during CY23 (-99 percent YoY).
The bank’s OPEX increased 38 percent YoY in 4QCY23 clocking in at Rs. 9.9 billion (4QCY22: Rs. 7.2 billion). With this, Cost/Income stood at 45.5 percent in 4QCY23 against 59.3 percent in the same period last year.
The effective tax rate was set at 57 percent during 4QCY23 compared to 50 percent last quarter. With this, the effective tax for CY23 stood at 47 percent (CY22: 42 percent). BOP posted earnings per share of Rs. 1.61 for 4QCY22 and Rs. 3.39 for CY23.
