HBL declares Rs 4 per share interim dividend for stakeholders

The board of directors of Habib Bank Limited (HBL), in its meeting held on Thursday, reviewed the performance of the group and approved the financial statements for the half year ended on 30 June 2013.
The board declared the bank’s first interim dividend of Rs 4 per share for the year ending 31 December, said a statement issued by the bank.
It said in spite of declining policy rate, imposition of floor at 6 percent on saving and term deposits on the basis of monthly average balances, lack of credit demand from businesses and challenging economic environment in domestic and international markets, the after tax profit of the HBL for the second quarter ended 30 June was up by 6.4 percent at Rs 5.4 billion as against Rs 5.1 billion in the first quarter ended 31 March.
The improvement in profitability during the quarter April–June 2013 is attributable mainly to the reversal of provisioning and increase in non-interest income.
The pre-tax and after tax profit of the bank stood at Rs 15.9 billion and Rs 10.5 billion, respectively, for the half year ended 30 June as against Rs 19.2 billion and Rs 11.9 billion for the half year ended 30 June 2012. The pre-tax and after tax earnings per share for the half year ended 30 June 2013 was Rs 11.8 and Rs 7.8, respectively.
The net interest income declined by 10 percent to Rs 26.2 billion for the half year ended 30 June, while the non-interest income at Rs 8 billion registered a growth of 3 percent as compared to first half of 2012.
The deposit growth was modest at 3.6 percent to Rs 1.259 trillion as on 30 June as against Rs 1.215 trillion as on 31 December 2012. The CASA of HBL improved to 73.8 percent as on 30 June 2013 compared to 67.0 percent as on 31 December 2012.
As on 30 June 2013 the advances stood at Rs 481 billion, while the investment was recorded at Rs 850 billion recorded growth of 6.6 percent compared to 31 December in 2012.