KARACHI, April 11: The Bank Al Habib Limited posted almost a flat earnings growth for the three months ended March 31, amounting to Rs420 million, translating into earnings per share (eps) at Rs1.14.

Profit after tax figure for the corresponding period of the previous year was Rs415 million, representing eps at Rs1.13. That, in absolute terms, reflected an improvement of Rs5 million (0.05 per cent) in taxed profit.

The board of directors which met on Wednesday skipped a payout. The price of the bank’s stock shed a slight 30 paisa to close at Rs56.40 with trading seen in 0.34 million shares during the day at the stock exchange.

Net mark-up/returns/interest income increased by 1.4 per cent to Rs1,026 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with Rs886 million earned the previous year.

Provision against non-performing loans and advances amounted to Rs63 million for the quarter under review and Rs60 million in the previous comparable period.

Administrative expenses rose by 1.65 per cent to Rs681 million, from Rs516 million, reflecting the on-going huge expansions in the banking sector.

The bank made substantially more money under the head “income from dealing in foreign currencies,” which amounted to Rs161 million for the period under review, showing 1.65 per cent improvement over Rs108 million earned under that head in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Banking sector analysts wondered if the results for the three months ended March 31 of Bank Al Habib (the earliest to disclose figures) could be the harbinger of upcoming commercial banks’ financial figures during this reporting season.