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PCBs post rise in profit *2°

Sajjadur Rahman
Private commercial banks (PCBs) kept up a good show in 2008 despite a global and domestic slowdown in business activity, according to data received from different PCBs.
The operating profit of a PCB was as high as 97 percent and the lowest margin was 23 percent for 2008.
Bankers put the growth down to higher import payments following a huge rise in the prices of commodities from the beginning of2008.
"The commodity price hike that lasted through the third quarter of 2008 pushed the banks’ profit up in 2008,” said Shahjahan Bhuiyan, managing director of United Commercial Bank (UCB).
"Banks' commission income increased significantly because of a price rise in 2008,” said AKM Shafiqur Rahman, executive vice president and secretary of National Bank Limited (NBL).
The operating profit of Al-Arafah Islami Bank rose by 97.5 percent to Tk 158 crore in 2008 from Tk 80 crore in 2007. Shahjalal Bank and Islami Bank saw operating profit increasing by 57 percent and 55 percent respectively in 2008, from a year earlier.
National Credit and Commerce Bank recorded a 33 percent rise in operating profit to Tk 236 crore in 2008 from Tk 178 crore a year ago.
The growth rate for UCB and NBL, two first-generation PCBs, was 24 percent and 28 percent respectively in 2008.
Operating profits by NBL and UCB reached Tk 374 crore and Tk 260 crore respectively in 2008.
Operating profits of BRAC Bank, a third-generation private bank, also increased by over 23 percent to Tk 200 crore from Tk 162 crore in 2007.
Prime Bank’s operating profit soared to Tk 410 crore in 2008 from Tk 326 crore in 2008. Pubali Bank earned Tk 60 crore more than its 2007 income ofTk 306 crore
Southeast Bank posted Tk 300
crore in operating profit, up fromTk 291 crore in 2007.
Of the other banks, EXIM earned Tk 260 crore, Dhaka Bank Tk 254 crore, Dutch Bangla Tk 221 crore, Mercantile Tk 190 crore, IFICTk 177 crore, Basic Tk 175 crore, Standard Bank Tk 156 crore, Triist Bank Tk 138 crore, Jamuna Bank Tk 120 crore, One Bank Tk 110 crore and Social Investment Bank Tk 100 crore, according to data tallied by The Daily Star.
AB Bank's operating profit however dipped by Tk 15 crore to Tk 450 crore in 2008 from Tk 465 crore in 2007.
“Banks in Bangladesh saw a good
year in 2008 despite the global financial turmoil. Credit should go for the central bank for its prudent and effective guideline," said Nurul Amin, managing director of NCC Bank.
"We have also seen growth in the banking industry in 2008 in spite of a slowdown in the global economy," said Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed, chief executive officer of state - owned Agrani Bank.
Agrani's operating profit reached Tk 600 crore in 2008 from Tk 526 crore a year ago.
The operating profit of the PCBs had increased by nearly Tk 1,500 crore to Tk 5,200 crore in 2007, up from Tk 3,734 crore in 2006.
The country's imports grew by 31.66 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
The value of letters of credit against imports worth $7,898 billion was settled in the July-October period of fiscal 2008-2009, compared with $5,999 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Credit to the private sector rose by 24.72 percent to Tk 39,736 crore in October 2008, compared to the same period of the previous year.
sajjad@thedailystar.net