Kathmandu: Laxmi Sunrise Bank Limited has reported a net profit of Rs 4.12 billion for the fiscal year 2024/25, up 40.97 percent from Rs 2.90 billion in the previous year.
While the bank’s net interest income fell, significant growth in fee and commission earnings, higher trading and other operating income, and a substantial drop in loan loss provisioning drove the profit surge.
Net interest income decreased by 7.98 percent to Rs 11.38 billion, but fee and commission income rose 9.99 percent to Rs 2.19 billion. Net trading income also jumped to around Rs 1.12 billion. Loan loss provisioning fell sharply from Rs 3.59 billion in FY 2023/24 to Rs 1.18 billion in FY 2024/25, boosting operating performance.
As a result, the bank’s net operating income climbed 19.22 percent to Rs 13.50 billion, and operating profit increased 38.55 percent to Rs 6.10 billion, despite a slight rise in staff expenses. In the previous fiscal year, operating profit was Rs 4.40 billion. However, the bank incurred Rs 430.8 million in non-operating expenses due to loan write-offs, which prevented net profit from matching the rise in operating profit.
The bank’s dividend-paying capacity also improved as it recovered some overdue interest, transferring Rs 720 million from regulatory reserves to retained earnings, while adding Rs 40 million to reserves after booking non-banking assets. It ended the year with Rs 2.98 billion in distributable profit and total retained earnings of Rs 3.05 billion, enabling an estimated dividend distribution capacity of 12.34 percent.
With paid-up capital of Rs 24.35 billion, earnings per share rose from Rs 12.59 to Rs 16.91. The reserve fund stands at Rs 18.09 billion, while net worth per share reached Rs 186.63 as of Ashad-end (mid-July). The bank’s price-to-earnings ratio was reported at 14.12.
In FY 2024/25, deposits increased by Rs 38 billion to Rs 367 billion, and lending grew by Rs 27.5 billion to Rs 275.04 billion. The credit-to-deposit ratio stood at 77.15 percent. Despite loan growth, high liquidity levels meant that net interest income failed to rise.
As of Ashad-end (mid-July), the bank’s core capital adequacy ratio was 10.12 percent, with a total capital adequacy ratio of 12.73 percent. Non-performing loans declined from 4.63 percent to 4.25 percent, while net non-performing loans were 1.05 percent. The base rate dropped to 6.50 percent.
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