Pan Asia Bank records 265% growth in profits

Pan Asia Bank said yesterday it has recorded an impressive 265% growth in profit after tax for the financial year ended 31 December 2014 to post Rs. 415.2 million on the back of strong core-banking performance, non-fund based income and efficient cost management.
The pre-tax profit too grew by three folds to Rs. 538.4 million. These results were achieved in spite of substantial provision for impairment on loans and other losses of Rs. 815 million.
The bank’s December quarter (4Q’14) results too followed suit with a profit of Rs. 138.1 million for the quarter setting the stage for a sustainable growth momentum in the years ahead.
The bank’s top line measured by the Net Interest Income (NII) rose by a commendable 350% year-on-year (yoy) in the 4Q’14 to Rs. 850.1 million and 31% for the whole year to Rs. 2.7 billion due to significantly higher growth in loan book and prudent asset and liability management.
Loans and receivables has grown by 34% to Rs. 63.3 billion which is by far the highest in the industry amid lacklustre demand for credit in the economy as the private credit grew by only 9% in 2014.
Pan Asia…
The bank has successfully managed the narrowing banking sector margins by increasing its Net Interest Margin (NIM) by 13% to 3.82% as the drop in the bank’s cost of deposits outweighed the drop in loan yields in the lower interest environment.
Timely pricing of products and timely fund management in to more remunerative areas had played a major role in improving the NIM in 2014.
Further the bank has made conscious efforts on improving the high yielding asset classes in its advances mix while identifying market niches where the bank could command a premium. This was amply supported by the bank’s innovative product portfolio.
The bank’s persistent push for attracting low cost funds saw Pan Asia Bank significantly improving its CASA ratio to 30.5% by end December 2014 from 19.3% a year ago and the bank is gradually catching up with the industry CASA averaging around 39.5%.
The bank has made a concerted effort to improve its fee and commission income (net) which has grown by 52% yoy in 4Q’14 to Rs. 197.1 million and by 17% for the FY 2014 to Rs.628.6 million.
As a result the total operating income for the 4Q’14 rose by 144% yoy to Rs. 1.2 billion and by 27% for the FY 2014 to Rs. 4.0 billion.

Will they pay any dividend or any other benefit to share holders other that asset increase.