NIC Bank has decided to distribute 25 percent cash dividend to its shareholders from the profit it earned in 2011/12, a bank statement said on . The distribution of the dividend, however, shall be subject to regulatory requirement and approvals. According to the release, the bank in 2011/12 posted a net profit of Rs 392 million, with earnings per share at Rs 29.87, return on assets of 1.64 percent and return on equity of 19 percent. 

Its non-performing loans during the year stood at 0.73 percent and capital adequacy ratio was at 11.01 percent. NIC Bank, which operates with 36 branches and 37 ATMs across the country, has also announced that it has posted a net profit of Rs 125 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

"The figure is 99 percent rise over what was recorded in the same period last year," says the statement. Referring to Nepal Rastra Bank´s approval for merger between NIC Bank and Bank of Asia Nepal, the bank said the Due Diligence Audit is currently under process. Once completed, this will be the first merger of two ´A´ class commercial banks in the country.

Source: Republica