National Bank saw Tk 3,200cr loss in 2022

National Bank Ltd suffered more than Tk 3,200 crore in loss in 2022 owing to the waiver in interest and the decrease in interest incomes for rising non-performing loans.  

Thus, the private commercial bank, which clocked more than Tk 300 crore in profit between 2015 and 2020, reported Tk 10.13 losses per share in the last financial year that ended on December 31 after making a profit of Tk 0.12 each share a year ago.

In a filing on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday, NBL blamed the waiver of interest and the fall in interest income for the fall in the EPS and the net asset value per share (NAVPS). The filing did not give any details.

Md Mehmood Husain, managing director of the bank, and Kaiser Rashid, company secretary, could not be reached for comments yesterday.

The loss of the bank continued into the first quarter of 2023 amid the rise in default loans and the liquidity crunch.

The lender incurred losses of Tk 312 crore from January to March, up from the Tk 57 crore loss it witnessed in the identical three-month period of 2022.

The private bank's losses per share rose 439 per cent to Tk 0.97 in the first quarter from Tk 0.18 a year ago.

The EPS decreased due to the liquidity crunch. Besides, borrowers failed to repay instalments on time and became classified while the interest on such loans and advances could not be taken to the income segment of the balance sheet, said NBL in another filing.

Its net operating cash flow per share improved in the January-March quarter. But it still remained negative at Tk 2.27.

Its classified loans stood at Tk 6,658 crore in 2022, accounting for 15.76 per cent of the total loans and advances of the bank.

Due to the higher amount of classified loans, the central bank ordered NBL in January not to disburse more than Tk 10 crore in loans to a single borrower.

NBL is not allowed to renew the existing loans too without recovering a certain cash portion of the credits from the borrowers.

Amid higher losses, its board of directors recommended no dividend for 2022. This was the second consecutive year the private commercial lender failed to pay dividends to its shareholders.

Its profit stood at Tk 19 crore in 2021.

In another ominous sign, NBL's assets dropped 25 per cent, or Tk 1,327 crore, in the last one year due to the elevated level of default loans and the liquidity crunch.

Set up in 1983, the first-generation bank's net asset value stood at Tk 3,837 crore on March 31 this year whether it was Tk 5,164 crore just a year ago, according to the quarterly disclosure of the bank.

NBL shares have been trading below the face value of Tk 10 for more than two years and closed at Tk 8.30 yesterday.