NTB commences year with a steady performance
View(s):The Nations Trust Bank (NTB) closed the first quarter ending 31stMarch 2015 with a post-tax profit of Rs. 493 million underpinned by a moderate growth of 9 per cent in operating income and a commendable containment of operating expenses growth to 5 per cnt over the corresponding quarter.
These levels of growth in income and expenses resulted in the bank improving core operating margins considerably but was somewhat hindered by higher impairment charges which impacted bottom line growth, the bank said in a media release.
Net interest income recorded a growth of 8 per cent over the previous period as the low interest rate operating environment brought about many challenges on asset re-pricing which was partly off-set by reducing cost of liabilities with the re-pricing of shorter tenor deposits.
The resultant drop in interest income of 8 per cent over the previous period was offset by the drop in interest expenses of 22 per cent. Overall, the bank’s NIMs did not record any significant movement as continuous efforts to grow low cost deposits improved the deposit mix which also assisted in reducing the cost of liabilities. Net fees and commission income recorded a growth of 20 per cent for the period under review driven by credit card fee based income.