Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh’s Islamic banks posted higher operating profits than conventional commercial banks in the first half of the current calendar year, provisional figures reveal.
Currently, seven private commercial banks (PCBs) out of 30 are operating under the Shariah. The banks have their own Shariah Councils to dictate terms of banking under Islamic rules and regulations.
The banks are Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd., Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Ltd., Social Islami Bank Ltd., Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd., First Security Islami Bank Ltd. and ICB Islamic Bank Ltd.
Besides, 16 conventional banks are doing Islamic banking through setting up 20 Islamic branches and 21 Islamic banking windows, bankers said.
Islamic banks in the banking sector showed a remarkable growth in the recent years, they said, adding that the ongoing expansion of the Islamic banking network is also impressive.
As a proportion of the overall banking industry, the combined share of Islamic banks (excluding Islamic banking branches and windows of the conventional banks) was 15.11 percent in assets, 17.95 percent in investments (loans), 16.32 percent in deposits, 13.05 percent in equity and 15.30 percent in liabilities as of end-December 2010, according to the central bank statistics.
A total of 27 PCBs earned BDT 65.59 billion as operating profit during the January-June period of 2012 against BDT 56.08 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year, sources in the banking sector said, adding that profit figures of three banks have not been included.
The operating profit, however, does not indicate the actual financial position of a bank as the banks have to leave aside funds for provisioning the bad debts and taxes payable to the government.
The Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd held the top position as usual among the PCBs, earning BDT 9.49 billion as operating profit during the period under review as against BDT 7.07 billion in the corresponding period of 2011.
According to the provisional figures, the Prime Bank Ltd took the second position to earn an operating profit of BDT 4.65 billion compared to BDT 4.05 billion earned during the same period last year.
The National Bank Ltd, however, stood third earning BDT 3.95 billion as operating profit against BDT 4.10 billion.
The United Commercial Bank Ltd earned around BDT 3.0 billion as operating profit against BDT 2.80 billion while operating profit of the Dutch Bangla Bank rose to BDT 3.01 billion from BDT 2.45 billion.
The operating profit of the Pubali Bank has gone up to BDT 3.60 billion in last six months from of BDT 2.80 billion of the corresponding period in 2011.
The Eastern Bank Ltd posted an operating profit of BDT 2.90 billion against BDT 2.50 billion while the National Credit and Commerce Bank’s profit rose to BDT 2.04 billion from BDT 2.01 billion.
The operating profit of the Dhaka Bank Ltd was BDT 2.11 billion during the period against BDT 1.95 billion. One Bank Ltd earned BDT 1.30 billion against BDT 1.80 billion and First Security Bank earned BDT 800 million against BDT 780 million.
The Mercantile Bank Ltd and IFIC Bank Ltd earned BDT 1.92 billion and BDT 1.87 billion as operating profit against BDT 1.58 billion and BDT 1.84 billion respectively.
The operating profit of Mutual Trust Bank Ltd came down to BDT 550 million during the period from BDT 650 million in the first half of the last calendar year.
The AB Bank Ltd earned around BDT 1.90 billion as operating profit against BDT 1.70 billion while operating profit of the Trust Bank Ltd rose to BDT 1.40 billion from BDT 1.06 billion.
The operating profit of Social Islami Bank Ltd rose to BDT 1.85 billion during the period from BDT 1.35 billion in the first half of the last calendar year.
The Bank Asia earned BDT 2.54 billion as operating profit against BDT 2.15 billion, while that of the Jamuna Bank rose to BDT 1.56 billion from BDT 1.49 billion.
The operating profit of the Shahjalal Islami Bank was BDT 2.43 billion during the first six months of 2012 against that of BDT 1.56 of the same period of the previous year. The Uttara Bank earned BDT 1.85 billion against BDT 1.71 billion.
The Al-Arafah Islami Bank earned BDT 2.85 billion as operating profit against BDT 1.70 billion earned during the corresponding period of the last year, while that of the EXIM Bank rose to BDT 2.26 billion from BDT 1.05 billion.
The operating profit of the Bangladesh Commerce Bank came down to BDT 200 million during the period under review from BDT 230 million of the same period of the previous year.
The Southeast Bank Ltd earned BDT 2.65 billion as operating profit during the period against BDT 3.25 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The operating profit of the Standard Bank rose to BDT 1.92 billion during the first six months of this year from BDT 1.34 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. The Premier Bank earned around BDT 1.00 billion as operating profit against BDT 1.11 billion.
BBN/SSR/AD-03July12-3:41 pm (BST)
