Pakistan Banks_Safe sailing continues, (AKD Daily, May 17, 2021)
AKD Daily
Pakistan Banks: Safe sailing continues
- Banking sector continues to maintain exceptional asset quality as of Mar’21 where total NPLs of our private banking universe (representing 59.0% of total industry advances) dropped by 1.9%QoQ. This was a result of, i) domestic and overseas (in US$ terms) NPLs remaining stable, and ii) exchange rate appreciation.
- We remain comfortable on overall asset quality where our view is based upon, i) significant decline in NPLs classified as substandard (domestic/overseas: -22.2%/-84.1%QoQ, major improvement seen in UBL’s overseas loan book), shedding light on loan performance particularly that of restructured portfolio, and ii) recovery ratios continuing to be robust (Mar’21: 2.0% — inline with previous quarter).
- Overall cost of provisioning stood at 0.1% in 1QCY21 (lowest of previous 6Qs), where we expect provisioning costs to be contained given, i) adequate loss buffers (0.5% of gross advances), ii) possibility of debt swap arrangements particularly in textile sector, and iii) potential regulatory support in the event of any company/sector affecting industry wide credit ratios. However, key checkpoint would be the implementation of IFRS-9.
- From investment perspective, we expect the sector to regain interest as uncertainty regarding COVID’s third wave evades and the Central Bank mounts its normal course of policy making. On valuations, we have preference for larger plays compared to mid tiers where we like HBL, UBL, and MCB.
AKD Research
Habib Bank Limited is engaged in commercial banking and asset management related services in Pakistan and overseas. The Bank's segments include Branch Banking, which consists of loans, deposits and other banking services to agriculture, consumer, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), and commercial customers; Corporate Banking, which consists of lending for project finance, trade finance and working capital to corporate customers and it also provides investment banking services, including services provided in connection with mergers and acquisitions; Treasury, which consists of trading, fixed income, equity, derivatives and foreign exchange businesses, and it also includes credit, lending and funding activities with professional market counterparties; International Banking, which is engaged in monitoring and reporting purposes and consists of its operations outside of Pakistan, and Head Office/Others. It operates in Pakistan; Europe, Middle East and America, and Asia and Africa.
AKD Securities Ltd. is one of the leading securities firm in Pakistan, providing a comprehensive range of investor focused services, including equity brokerage, economic and securities research, investment banking and financial advisory services. AKD Securities accounts for more than 6% of the average daily value of the Karachi Stock Exchange. AKD Securities was the first brokerage house to launch an online trading platform in Pakistan in November 2002 and now has the largest market share with over 6000 customers. This has helped diversify and expand the retail investor base in the country and ushered in a whole new universe of investors to the stock market.
AKD Securities Ltd. caters to a diversified group of domestic and international institutional investors, high net worth individuals and upscale retail clients, including expatriate Pakistanis. With high quality research, unparalleled execution and distribution capability for both regular and large block trades, AKD Securities Ltd. has earned an outstanding reputation in the Pakistani securities industry.Outside of commercial banks, AKD Securities Ltd. is one of the biggest capital market firms in the country. AKD Securities is the leader in raising and providing risk capital in underwriting, market making and mergers and acquisitions in Pakistan. Good corporate governance and professionalism are emphasized throughout the firm and AKD Securities Ltd. is amongst the very few companies to have introduced a firm-wide comprehensive CODE of ETHICS, overseen by an independent compliance manager.Ultimately, our success is based on the quality of service we provide to our customers and the trust and confidence reposed in us by them. Our focus, therefore, remains on customer satisfaction at all levels in the company.
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