Report
Mohammad Ibad-ur-Rehman
EUR 20.34 For Business Accounts Only

Pakistan Banking Sector - Well-Positioned To Leverage Improving Macros (Detailed Report)

  • Pakistan Banking sector is well-positioned to take advantage of current economic up-cycle with i) capital formation from both domestic and CPEC related activities, ii) Interest rate reversal in the offing, iii) double digit credit growth, iv) cleaner balance sheets, and v) MSCI flows, keeping the sector in limelight.
  • The dichotomy of banking sectors profitability in the near term (flat earnings in 2017) with expanding economic base is primarily attributable to repricing impact from the recently matured PIBs. That said, post 2017 we believe a plethora of earnings triggers for the banking sector are on the horizon that include, i) double digit credit growth, ii) NIMs expansion from interest rate reversal and focus on CASA deposits, iii) lower Opex growth and iv) growth in non-interest income.
  • We initiate our coverage on Banks with marketweight stance where Elixir Banking Universe is trading at 2017/18 PBV (Tier I) of 1.5x/1.4x with a 2017 ROE of 15% that picks up to 17% in 2018. Furthermore higher weightage of HBL, MCB and UBL in MSCI EM Index are likely to keep the banking space in limelight. We favor UBL and BAFL in the sector.
Underlyings
Bank Alfalah

Bank Alfalah Limited is a holding company. The Company's segments include Retail banking, including loans, deposits, trading activity, wealth management and other banking transactions with its retail and middle market customers; Corporate banking, which includes loans, deposits, project financing, trade financing, investment banking and other banking activities with its corporate and public sector customers; Treasury, including liquidity management activities carried out through borrowing, lending and money market operations; Consumer banking, including constitutes consumer financing activities with individual customers; Islamic banking, pertaining to its full scale Islamic Banking operations; International operations, which includes amounts related to its overseas operations, namely, commercial banking activities in Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and wholesale banking activities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Others, including merchant banking related activities.

Habib Bank Limited

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.

MCB Bank Limited

Muslim Commercial Bank, and its subsidiaries, are engaged in commercial banking and the floating, administration and management of modaraba companies, modaraba funds and modarabas.

National Bank of Pakistan

National Bank of Pakistan (the Bank) is a Pakistan-based commercial bank. The Bank provides commercial banking services, including commercial loans, investment advisory, asset management, global remittances, agency services, forex, leasing, modarba, underwriting, brokerage, and other banking and financial services. The Bank offers retail products, which include saving deposits, current deposits, housing finance, personal loans and agricultural loans; transaction banking services, which include cash management, trade finance and services, and remittance management; Corporate Finance services, which include deposits, structured corporate finance, capital advisory, investment advisory and trade finance; Treasury services, which include forex and financial derivatives, and government to person (G2P) services, which include pension payments, tax and fee collection, and other payments. The Bank serves its customers in over 20 countries.

United Bank Limited

United Bank is engaged in commercial banking and related services. Co. operates five business segments: Corporate Finance, Trading and Sales, Retail Banking, Commercial Banking and Asset Management. As of Dec 31 2016, Co. operates 1,341 branches inside Pakistan including 47 Islamic Banking branches and 2 branches in Export Processing Zones, and 18 branches outside Pakistan.

Provider
Elixir Securities
Elixir Securities

Elixir Securities Pakistan is a Corporate Member of the Pakistan Stock Exchange & Pakistan Mercantile Exchange and is one of the leading securities brokerage & investment banking firms in Pakistan, established since 1994. Our principal business activities include all aspects of Pakistan’s Capital Markets covering Securities Brokerage (Equities, Fixed Income and Commodities), Corporate Finance & Capital Markets Advisory (M&A, ECM, DCM) and Investment Research (Economics & Securities). We are one of the most active & aggressive Broker-Dealers in Pakistan executing trades for most of the Top 20 Global Brokers with unmatched corporate access credentials and have successfully advised and closed on some landmark ECM transactions in the history of Pakistan including the largest deal in frontier Asia (USD 1.02 billion). Our Clients include foreign and domestic financial institutions (Banks, Asset Managers, Insurance Companies, Pension Funds) corporates, HNWI’s and retail investors. This is supported by a very strong and independent research capability, which is quoted regularly in both local and international media.

Elixir Securities Pakistan is the proud recipient of many awards & recognitions including AsiaMoney’s Brokers Poll 2017, FinanceAsia’s Pakistan Best Investment Bank and Best Broker 2017, The Asset’s Best Brokerage House in Pakistan 2016, Asiamoney’s “Best Domestic Equity House 2015 in Pakistan”, The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2015 - Pakistan “Deal of the Year” and “Deal of the Year-Highly Commended”, CFA Society of Pakistan Awards for Year 2015 “Best Research Analyst (1st Rank), CFA Society of Pakistan Awards for Year 2014 “Best Research Analyst (1st Rank)”, “Best Trader” 2nd Runner-up (3rd Rank), The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2014’s “Best Deal in Pakistan” and Capital Finance International’s nomination for “Best Equity Research in Pakistan 2010”.

Analysts
Mohammad Ibad-ur-Rehman

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