Karachi: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) held its Corporate Briefing session today, disclosing a 14% year-over-year growth in assets, driven significantly by increased deposits and borrowing. Despite robust asset growth, the bank reported a substantial financial downturn with a net loss of Rs4.9 per share for the second quarter of 2024.

According to JS Global, the session highlighted various facets of the bank’s performance, including a one-time expense related to pensioner dues which significantly impacted its financials. Excluding this expense, NBP’s adjusted earnings per share for the quarter would have been Rs6.6. The bank’s core net interest income grew by 5% year-over-year, although net interest margins slightly contracted.

The discussion also covered NBP’s strategic focus on enhancing its digital banking services, which have seen an 88% increase in transaction processing via digital channels year-over-year. The growth in digital banking comes as part of the bank’s broader technology upgrade initiative that has been underway for the last four years.