HBL earnings jump
Habib Bank Ltd announced on Wednesday its consolidated earnings for April-June amounted to Rs12.9 billion, up 281 per cent from a year ago. On a quarterly basis, however, net profit dipped 2pc in the same three-month period.Arif Habib Ltd said the jump in earnings in the quarter under review was led by higher net interest income. The bank also declared a dividend of Rs2 per share, which took the half-yearly pay-out to Rs3.50.Net interest income settled at Rs58.1bn, up 54pc year-on-year. While interest expense of the bank in April-June was up 77pc, interest income too remained high and recorded a 69pc jump, which depicts “asset-repricing impact” in the quarter under review. Provisioning went up 81pc year-on-year to Rs2.8bn in the three-month period.The effective tax rate remained 56.4pc in April-June versus 82.5pc a year ago.