Banking Khabar / 19 Listed Commercial Banks Publish Annual Financial Reports. According to the reports, Nepal Bank, Kumari Bank, NIC Asia Bank, and Himalayan Bank are unlikely to distribute dividends this year. Although ,Nepal Investment Mega Bank has a positive dividend-paying capacity, the likelihood of it declaring a dividend remains low.
On average, the 19 banks have the capacity to distribute dividends of around 11 percent, with 11 banks having the ability to offer double-digit returns. The improvement in dividend capacity is largely attributed to successful loan recoveries this year. Among all, Everest Bank leads with the highest capacity at 38 percent.
However, despite some banks reporting high profits, their distributable profit remains relatively low, weakening their dividend-paying capacity. Experts have highlighted that for investors, distributable profit is more significant than the overall profit figure.
As per regulations, banks must complete external audits within three months after the end of the fiscal year, which means the final numbers may slightly change in the audited reports. After completion, each bank’s Board of Directors will formally decide on dividend distribution based on actual capacity.
The declared dividend will be distributed either as cash or bonus shares. Commercial banks are required to hold their Annual General Meetings (AGM) by mid-January to approve the dividends. Only after AGM approval will investors receive bonus shares in their Demat accounts and cash dividends in their bank accounts.
Dividend Capacity of Commercial Banks (in %):
Everest Bank – 38.27
Sanima Bank – 20.47
Standard Chartered Bank – 19.85
Agricultural Development Bank – 18.42
Nabil Bank – 17.64
Prime Commercial Bank – 14.33
Global IME Bank – 14.11
Siddhartha Bank – 13.22
Laxmi Sunrise Bank – 12.34
Nepal SBI Bank – 11.29
NMB Bank – 10.40
Machhapuchhre Bank – 9.23
Citizens Bank – 5.25
Prabhu Bank – 4.44
Nepal Investment Mega Bank – 1.44
Kumari Bank – 0
NIC Asia Bank – 0
Himalayan Bank – 0
