BCEL bank makes 164 billion kip profit in H1

BCEL bank makes 164 billion kip profit in H1

BCEL bank has recorded a higher profit than predicted, expanding its business over the first six months of this year, according to a top company official.

The public company's Administration Office Head Mr Khamhou Thongthavy said yesterday that the company generated income of about 248 billion kip from January to June this year, with around 84 billion kip in outgoing expenses, leaving it with a net profit of around 164 billion kip.

The company had expected to make a net profit of around 157 billion kip after paying taxes to the government, and has exceeded expectations. Earnings per share will be 1,146 kip, he said, adding that return on investment is about 16 percent higher than the deposit interest rate at a commercial bank, which is around 10 percent.

He said that the bank expects to make a higher profit than the annual projection of 212 billion kip, after learning that the profit in the first six month of this year is equivalent to about 78 percent of the annual profit target.

Mr Khamhou said that the bank plans to expand its loans business, making more credit available to both private and state enterprises to increase revenue over the remaining period of this year, therefore he expressed confidence that the bank will make greater income than the set plan.

He said that over the first six months of this year, the bank expanded its business rapidly, including opening service units in the countryside in accordance with government policy to give the people access to bank services and capital in rural areas.

The bank welcomed cash deposits of around 11,000 billion kip over the first six months, while releasing loans of around 3,478 billion kip, he said, adding that the bank also invested some of the deposited money to buy government bonds and invest in other financial businesses.

The bank has recently upgraded it customer service capabilities, giving people greater access to banking services by rolling out more ATMs throughout the country. It has also begun issuing Union Cards, which allow the card holders to withdraw money at Union Pay ATMs around the world.

The bank signed an agreement with Electricite du Laos, making it easier for bank customers to pay their electricity bills through both BCEL ATMs and their BCEL's e-banking service.

According to Mr Khamhou, about 48 percent of the company's income is from interest earned from loans released to businesses in Laos. The rest is from bank service fees, foreign currency exchange and other investments such as the gold trade.

When questioned about the declining price of BCEL shares at the Lao Securities Exchange, Mr Khamhou said that the fall of bank share prices had nothing to do with the performance of the bank. He said that investors did not use information from the bank to make decisions about when to buy or sell shares.

The price of a BCEL share remained unchanged at 7,200 kip yesterday. The trading volume of the shares is only 500, with an investment value of about 3.6 million kip.

vientiane times