Nepal’s commercial banks earned a combined profit of Rs 17.81 billion in the first two months of fiscal year 2083/84, according to data from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The total was 7.33 percent higher than the Rs 16.59 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier, despite loan recovery failing to improve as expected. Lower costs were cited as the main reason for the rise in profits, while 13 banks reported higher earnings during the period.
Profit rises despite weak loan recovery
The increase in combined profit points to improved overall earnings for the banking sector compared with the opening two months of the previous fiscal year. Banks recorded Rs 1.22 billion more in profit than in the corresponding period last year, based on the reported totals. The year-on-year growth rate was 7.33 percent.
The rise came even though loan recovery did not improve as expected. The reported figures therefore show that higher profit was not attributed to stronger recovery performance. Instead, lower costs were identified as the main factor supporting banks’ earnings during the period.
Thirteen banks record higher earnings
Thirteen commercial banks posted higher profits in the two-month period. The figure indicates that profit growth was recorded by a number of institutions, although the available data does not specify how each bank performed or how much each contributed to the sector-wide total.
The combined figure provides a broad view of commercial banks’ performance at the start of the fiscal year. It does not, on its own, show whether profit growth was evenly spread across the sector. The reported increase reflects the overall total, while the number of banks with higher earnings offers a separate measure of how many institutions improved on their own previous-year results.
What the figures show
The year-on-year comparison sets the Rs 17.81 billion total against Rs 16.59 billion for the same two months last year. That comparison shows a higher aggregate profit, but the available information also highlights a limitation: loan recovery had not improved as expected. Lower costs, rather than better loan recovery, were cited as the principal explanation for the increased earnings.
The figures cover only the first two months of fiscal year 2083/84. They provide an early snapshot of commercial banks’ combined profitability, not a full-year result. Further results would be needed to assess how earnings develop over the remainder of the fiscal year and whether the reported cost-related improvement is sustained.
