AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Karachi: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) announced a remarkable financial performance for the first half of the calendar year 2025, reporting an unconsolidated profit of PkR43.5 billion, a substantial increase compared to the previous year. This surge is attributed primarily to the absence of the previous year’s one-time pension provisioning and enhanced net interest and non-interest income.
NBP’s investment portfolio experienced a 9% growth over December 2024, reaching PkR5.0 trillion. The breakdown of the investment book includes significant allocations in Floating PIBs, T-Bills, Fixed PIBs, and others, with weighted average maturities detailed for each category. The bank plans to use inflows from maturing investments to settle open market operations, as it does not foresee a significant decline in interest rates.
The recurring pension expense for the bank stood at approximately PkR5 billion for the half-year, with expectations for the full-year expense ranging between PkR9 billion and PkR10 billion. Despite these expenses, NBP’s gross advances decreased by 5.5% over December 2024, reflecting a lack of new growth plans from corporate clients, which has kept credit demand subdued.
Current account deposits at NBP increased by 42% year-to-date to PkR2.5 trillion, raising the current account ratio to 54% from 46% at the end of December 2024. Consequently, the CASA ratio also improved to 83% from 79%.
The bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) saw a slight decline to 27.3% in June 2025, down from 27.8% in December 2024, primarily due to market risk impacts on the Available-for-Sale portfolio, as instructed by the State Bank of Pakistan. Despite this, NBP remains confident in its capital position.
While the bank is still assessing the potential impact of recent floods, past experiences suggest limited effects. NBP’s agriculture loan book, constituting 7.6% of total advances, stands at PkR120 billion.
In its Aitemaad Islamic Banking segment, deposits witnessed a 35.7% growth year-to-date, reaching PkR420 billion, with net assets increasing by 37.4% to PkR22 billion. The bank’s Islamic branch network now comprises 207 branches.
As for dividends, NBP’s management indicated that payouts would align with industry standards, subject to board approval due to the bank’s systemic importance. The bank’s consolidated CAR remains robust at 27.3% as of June 2025.