Commissions from letters of credit (L/Cs) have helped nearly half of Bangladesh's commercial banks to improve profitability in the first half of this year.

The earnings of the country's 30 listed commercial banks revealed mixed trends in the first six months of 2012, with about half of the banks reporting growing net profits.

Profit targets

Commissions from L/C opening and remittances, strong monetary recovery and integrated treasury management have helped 14 banks earn higher amounts in the first six months of 2012, according to the banks' half-yearly disclosures.

The recently disclosed data also says that many banks failed to achieve target profit margins due to loan provisioning for non-performing loans and a sluggish stock market.

Comparisons

The net profit of 16 banks declined in the six months to June 2012 compared with the first half of last year.

Banks that posted improved profits said this was mainly due to improvements in their core banking business while improved liquidity this year compared with last year meant the banks could write more international trade finance business.

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