The asset base of the banking sector has registered an increase of 1.0 per cent during the quarter ended on March 31, said a quarterly performance review (QPR) of the banking sector released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
This growth was mainly contributed by banks’ investment in government securities (mostly Pakistan Investment Bonds) as overall advances observed seasonal decline owing to net retirements against commodity financing and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) financing. However, the seasonal contraction in gross advances (0.6 per cent) was less than the average decline of 1.2 per cent during the same quarter of the last two years due to positive growth in advances to private sector (1.0 per cent) – mainly fixed investment advances.
The deposits – sensitive to seasonal fall in overall advances – slightly declined by 0.6 per cent during the March quarter with dip in current deposits and fixed deposits, however, saving deposits increased by 3.6 per cent. Consequently, the borrowings from financial institutions (mostly SBP) provided the funding necessary for assets expansion.
Asset quality slightly declined during the quarter; NPLs to Loan ratio (infection ratio) increased by 32 bps to reach 11.7 per cent and Net NPLs to Net Loan ratio inched up by 23 bps to 2.1 per cent. Banks’ growing share in government securities further improved the fund based liquidity; though, some volatility was seen in market liquidity.
With Year on Year (YoY) growth of 2.1 per cent, Mar-2016 quarter observed profit after tax of Rs 52.9 billion (profit before tax Rs 81.6 billion). However, due to slowdown in pace of profits, Net Interest Margin (NIM) narrowed down to 3.9 per cent in Mar-2016 (4.4 per cent in Mar-2015) and ROA to 2.3 per cent (2.6 per cent in Mar-15). Solvency observed downward adjustment to 16.3 per cent in Mar-2016 (17.4 per cent in Mar-2015), still well above the minimum local required threshold of 10.25 per cent and international benchmark of 8.625 per cent, primarily due to one-off accounting adjustment by a public sector bank, continued growth in private sector advances and dividend payments by profitable banks.
The banking sector growth was reflected through absorption of new human resources and expansion in banking infrastructure including ATMs and branches.