NBP declares PKR 15 billion profit after tax

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

Despite the numerous changes being faced by the banking industry since February due to the advent of coronavirus (COVID-19), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has achieved profit after tax of PKR 15.2 million for the first six months of 2020. 

The Board of Directors of NBP met on September 1 during which it approved the condensed interim financial statements of the bank for the half-year ended June 30, 2020.

With strong growth in core earnings, NBP reported unconsolidated Profit After Tax of PKR 15.2 billion, up by PKR 4.1 billion or 36.8% compared to the same period last year. 

Its net assets increased by PKR 26.4 billion to PKR 259.0 billion from PKR 232.6 billion in December 2019, according to media release issued by the bank’s media department on September 2. 

During the first falf 2020, NBP earned gross mark-up/interest income amounting to PKR 145.3 billion which is 49% higher than PKR 97.7 billion while total earning assets averaged at PKR 2,428.1 billion, up from PKR 1,931.5 billion last June. 

Whereas, net advances averaged at PKR 971.1 billion being 6.6% higher than PKR 911.3 billion of Jun ’19, and recorded 18.7% growth in mark-up income that closed at PKR 57.6 billion. As the bank incurred cost of funds amounting to PKR 96.8 billion, net mark-up/interest income for H1 ’20 closed at PKR 48.4 billion, being 36.2% higher against PKR 35.6 billion earned during the first half of last year. 

Contributing a quarter to the total income, Non-Fund Income (NFI) for this period amounted to PKR 18.3 billion, marginally higher by PKR 0.14 billion or 1% than PKR 18.2 billion of H1, 2019. 

Despite high inflationary pressures, the bank did well at keeping a lid on the administrative expenses that clocked at PKR 29.5 billion. The total asset base of the bank on an unconsolidated basis amounted to PKR 3,163.4 billion which was 1.2% higher than PKR 3,124.4 billion as at December 31, 2019 while the investments continued to constitute the bulk of the asset-mix and increased by PKR 203.8 billion to PKR 1,643.0 billion, whereas net advances registered a decline of 7.2% over Dec ‘19, clocking in at PKR 935.6 billion. 

On the liabilities side, the deposit base of the Bank registered an increase of PKR 141.2 billion, improving the current account mix to 55.1% and CASA ratio to 83.1%. 

In June 2020, M/s VIS Credit Rating and PACRA Credit Rating re-affirmed the Bank’s credit rating as “AAA” (Triple AAA), the highest credit rating awarded by the company for a bank in Pakistan. 

In recognition of the successful deals and innovative initiatives that made a positive impact for its clients, NBP had recently been awarded two prestigious awards of Corporate Client Initiative of the Year (Pakistan) and the Innovative Deal of the Year (Pakistan) by the Asian Banking & Finance Magazine. 

It has been revalidating business assumptions with a focus on how the COVID-19 crisis may affect its asset quality and the adjustments needed to contain the impact on its overall business model.

NBP has remained committed to using its earnings to bolster the balance sheet and provisions have been increased substantially with the key element of the strategy already approved by the board being to support greater financial inclusion via participation in the SME, housing, agriculture and construction sectors. 

It has continued to play its role in supporting those segments which have been under pressure during the slowdown to help them retain their financial flexibility and play their due role in the economy.

US allows temporary imports from China

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Unlike China, the death toll from COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has spiked to all-time high and the American administration has granted short term exemption of dozens of items including disposable masks from China until the end of 2020, after the US elections.

The items given four months reprieve included disposable face masks, respirators, bluetooth tracking devices and musical instruments among the Chinese exports granted a new short-term exemption to trade war tariffs by the United States, its trade department announced. 

The products on List 1 of the Section 301 tariff action against China had been exempted on September 1, 2019, for one year. But the reprieve has been extended just four months, until the end of 2020. 

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) did not explain why the extension period was shortened, in a note published on the Federal Register, the official journal of the federal government that contains government agency rules, proposed rules and public notices. 

The four-month extension will cover the US election, allow China to continue making progress towards meeting the terms of the phase one trade deal, and could theoretically help avert further flare-ups in the trade war, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported. 

Other items on the exclusion list included LCD display units, binoculars, postage stamps and earth-drilling machinery. This happens to be one of eight lists of exempted products issued under the USTR’s product-exclusion process launched last year.

Coronavirus Update: Countrywide spike

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh, like other provinces of the country, witnessed the increase in its daily COVID-19 fatalities on September 1 when the authorities confirmed detection of 146 new infections, with six relevant deaths, during the last 24 hours.

As per the official data, Sindh had reported six COVID-19 deaths on August 27, which gradually decreased to two deaths on August 31. Sindh’s overall fatality toll was recorded as 2,409. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine COVID-19 statement, issued after a break of a couple of days, shared that the number of patients who were under treatment was 3,822, including 3,504 in home-isolation, seven in government designated isolation centres and 311 in public and private hospitals, out of which 157 were in critical condition. 

“As many as 15 patients were receiving the ventilator intervention,” the Chief Minister  added. 

The COVID-19 testing laboratories examined 5,668, against their collective maximum capacity of 14,940, during the last 24 hours ending on September 1 at 8 am.

They in all found 222 samples positive for coronavirus, including 146 new infections.

As of September 1, Sindh has tested 1,005,994 samples so far, out of which 129,615 (13%) were declared positive.

New deaths reported on September 1 pertained to Karachi Central (2), Karachi South (2), Karachi East (1) and Karachi Korangi (1).

Sindh’s overall COVID-19 death tally rose to 2,409 on September 1. Karachi’s six districts in all registered 88 (60%) new cases during the last 24 hours, followed by Umerkot (11), Matiari (5), Hyderabad (4), Kambar Shahdadkot (4), Larkana (4), Shikarpur (4), Naushero Feroze (3), Ghotki (2), Jacobabad (2), Tando Allahyar (2) and others.

According to an official report, as many as 43,500 samples were drawn from targeted areas/quarters, including markets, shopping malls, tourists' spots, hotels, majalis/processions, shrines/urs, restaurants, polio/dengue health workers and government and private office workers during a period from August 12 to September 1, out of which 657 (1.51%) were found positive.

On the other hand, COVID-19 tests conducted in the rural areas of Sindh, during a period from August 27 to September 1, revealed that the maximum 1,092 samples were examined at Umerkot, out of which 12 came as positive, 366 were negative, while results of 714 samples were awaited.

It was further learnt that the maximum 665 of COVID-19 fatalities occurred in the Karachi East district, followed by Karachi Central (450), Karachi South (332), Karachi Korangi (247), Karachi West (208) and other, since March 19 when Sindh reported its first relevant death. The two deaths registered in Sindh on August 31 occurred among patients hospitalized at Karachi.