Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd (DBBL) made a net profit of Tk 5.66 billion in 2022, the highest since its listing in the stock market more than two decades ago.
The profit grew at a rate of 1.80 per cent in the year compared to the previous year, driven by increased income from commissions and fees.
The core business in banking suffered due to the economic slowdown but the lender secured high income in 2022 in the export-import segment.
A significant gain by the treasury department, which deals with foreign exchange transactions in export and import, helped the bank attain the record profit, said an official of the bank, requesting not to be named.
Market insiders say that although sluggish economy and single-digit interest rate regime made it difficult to boost income in banking, earnings from foreign exchange business rose due to the surge in the dollar price against the local currency.
The local foreign exchange market turned volatile as a severe shortage of the greenback emerged following an unprecedented jump in import bills fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine war.
The board of directors of the second generation bank recommended 25 per cent dividends (17.5 per cent cash and 7.5 per cent stock) for 2022.
The bonus shares have been declared to increase the paid-up capital. It was also necessary to comply with the Bangladesh Bank's circular regarding the maximum dividends that banks can pay shareholders, said the bank in a disclosure.
The maximum dividend limit is 35 per cent, out of which maximum cash dividend is 17.50 per cent.
"The retained amount will be used to strengthen the capital, which helps increase business capacity," reads the disclosure.
The bank's earnings per share stood at Tk 8.14 for 2022, up from Tk 7.99 the year before.
The net asset value per share stood at Tk 59.85 as of December 2022, up from Tk 53.13 in 2021. The net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) jumped 55 per cent year-on-year to Tk 30.50, mainly due to the sell-off of the bank's holdings of other stocks.
Earnings per share, net asset value per share and net operating cash flow per share for 2021 are restated due to the increased number of ordinary shares through the issuance of bonus shares for 2021, said the bank.
The bank paid 17.5 per cent cash and 10 per cent stock dividend for 2021.
The bank's annual general meeting will be held on June 12, virtually. The record date is May 17.
The bank will also change its name to Dutch-Bangla Bank PLC from Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd to comply with the amended Companies Act that asked all the publicly-traded firms to adopt the suffix PLC instead of Ltd.
The bank's stock price has been languishing at the floor price of Tk 62.60 since October 20 last year. Still, it is the most-valued stock among the listed banks.
There are 35 banks listed in the stock market. The banking sector's total market-cap is nearly Tk 679 billion, the second highest after the pharmaceuticals sector on the DSE.
Dutch-Bangla Bank was established as a joint venture company at the initiative of the Netherlands Development Finance Company. However, the latter sold its entire stakes in 2019.
Its mobile financial service (Rocket) also showed strong performance providing financial services to unbanked communities efficiently and at affordable cost. Currently Rocket holds more than 17 per cent market share in this segment.
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