Staff Reporter
Karachi
UBL announced earnings on Wednesday in-line with expectations for 1HCY19 at PKR 9.2bn (EPS: Rs 7.49), depicting an uptick of 48% YoY and 27% QoQ. Excluding the pension liability earnings for the bank have fallen 15% YoY primarily owing to additional super tax booked during 1QCY19. NII growth, impressive control on OPEX and lower provisioning expenses all supported the performance of the bank.
The bank announced a dividend of Rs 2.50/share for the quarter taking total payout to Rs 5.00/share for 1HCY19. Net Interest Income of the bank settled at Rs 30.6bn during 1HCY19, rising 5% YoY as we see impact of rate hikes coming through on NIMs.
A concrete domestic current account base of ~43% helped shield the bank from NII deterioration during the quarter (+4% QoQ) despite the 150 bps hike during 2Q.