KARACHI: S&P Global Intelligence said Wednesday that four banks in Pakistan were among the top 10 Asia Pacific lenders in 2024.
The S&P research stated that “a number of banks based in the region’s developing economies performed better on the metric of total returns than those in traditional powerhouse nations, causing Pakistani banks to dominate a ranking of Asia-Pacific lenders with the best-performing stocks in 2024.”
The S&P Global Market Intelligence data showed that four lenders with offices in Pakistan, led by United Bank Ltd (UBL), made the top 10. In a survey of the top-performing bank stocks in the region, UBL, which has a market valuation of $1.68 billion, came in second with a total stock return of 159.7%.
According to the data, it lagged behind PT Bank Artha Graha Internasional Tbk of Indonesia, which has a $270 million market capitalization and generated 193.2 percent returns overall throughout the year.
The best stock returns of 2024 are reported by UBL, NBP, Alfalah, and BoP.
Other Pakistani banks that made the top ten list included Bank Alfalah Ltd (BAFL) with a return of 107.1 percent, Bank of Punjab (BoP) with a return of 98.4 percent, and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) with a return of 108.4 percent.
With respective returns of 94.5 and 93.2 percent, Allied Bank Ltd (ABL) and Habib Metropolitan Bank Ltd were ranked 14th and 15th on the list of the top 15 banks.
Only Japan had more than one lender in the top ten performers; Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines each had one bank in the remaining positions.
Asia-Pacific lenders with a market capitalization of more than $100 million as of December 31 were considered for the list. Only six of the top 15 lenders had a market capitalization of more than $1 billion, indicating that small-cap banks dominated the list.
According to the research, a number of Pakistani banks have rebounded from a previous decline in share prices caused by the country’s deteriorating economy and rising inflation. Through an IMF finance package, Pakistan’s economy revived in the second half of 2024.
While the PSX set new records every day in the final quarter of 2024, Pakistani banks were the blue chips.
According to Market Intelligence statistics, SBI Sumishin Net Bank Ltd. of Japan came in third place among banks in the region with the highest total returns, while Rakuten Bank Ltd. came in seventh.
The poorest performers among Indian lenders
In the meantime, the share prices of banks in Asia-Pacific’s two main development engines were negatively impacted by the comparatively sluggish economic expansion in China and India. The top 15 best-performers list did not include any lenders from mainland China or India.
The list of the 15 banks with the worst performance included seven Indian firms. According to data, the ten largest losers were India’s RBL Bank Ltd, IndusInd Bank Ltd, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd, Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd, and ESAF Small Finance Bank. Their total returns ranged from 43.1 to 38 percent.
Amidst challenges like muted credit expansion and the nation’s economic slump, Indian banks are anticipated to experience ongoing profits pressure. According to the research, the Reserve Bank of India anticipates 6.6 percent GDP growth in 2024–2025, down from 8.2 percent the year before.
