NTB posts Rs 376 m profit in first quarter

Nations Trust Bank PLC announced that the Group closed the first quarter of 2011 with pre-tax profits of Rs 684 mn, an increase of 29 percent over 2010 while post-tax profits aided by reduced taxation rates grew by a much higher percentage of 76 percent from Rs 214 million in 2010 to Rs 376 mn.

Commenting on the results, Director and CEO Saliya Rajakaruna said they have performed creditably during the quarter and managed to post good growth in core revenue streams with reasonable returns and strong balance sheet footing. "Having drawn up our strategic plan for the medium term, we have embarked on an ambitious growth strategy for the next three years.

We are convinced that new products, new market segments, new geographies and new demographics will provide a lucrative landscape for the growth of the bank," he said.

Group net interest income was contained at previous year levels despite narrowing margins in the industry through growth in business volumes, timely re-pricing of deposits and a shift in the deposit mix towards low cost funds.

The focused approach to enhance non-funds based income resulted in a substantial growth of 37 percent compared to the previous quarter.

The bank generated it's non-funds based income mainly from capital market activities and from trade and credit card related business lines.

Trade finance volumes, both on imports and exports picked up significantly compared to the previous year with the resultant income increasing by 56 percent. Credit card non fund based income grew by 14 percent for the quarter as consumer spend increased.

Group operating expenses recorded an increase of 17 percent over 1Q 2010.

Loan loss provision for the quarter recorded a net write back of 39 million compared to a charge of 114 million in the previous year.