Brac Bank's profit surges 50pc

Brac Bank's profit after tax surged 50 percent year-on-year to Tk 397.3 crore in the first nine months this year.

The hefty profit was backed by project financing in the infrastructure sector, said Selim RF Hussain, managing director and CEO of the bank.

He was disclosing the bank's financial performance in the third quarter of 2017 at the bank's headquarters in the capital yesterday.

Brac Bank made a profit after tax of Tk 155.2 crore in July-September, up 70 percent compared to that in the same period of the previous year.

The bank's consolidated earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 1.76 in the third quarter from Tk 1.03 in the same period a year ago.

Nine months' EPS increased to Tk 4.42, up from Tk 3.02 in the same period of last year.

"The bank has enhanced its overall capacity and diversified products and services, which have helped bag good profit," said Hussain.

He said Brac Bank recently became the only bank in Bangladesh to cross the $1 billion mark in market capitalisation.

"We are on the way to be the best bank in the country," he added.

Local and foreign investment analysts and capital market experts were present at the press conference.

The hefty profit declaration pushed the bank's share price up by Tk 4.2 or 4.21 percent to Tk 104 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.

With Tk 28.50 crore, the bank secured the second position in the top turnover chart.