BSP reports K249mil Q3 profit

The National Business

BANK South Pacific Financial Group Ltd (BSP) has announced third quarter (Q3) unaudited net profit of K249 million with a year to date (YTD) group profit of K698 million.
Chief executive officer Robin Fleming said the growth in offshore banks and the Papua New Guinea market contributions were responsible for the overall uplift in the group’s net profit. Fleming said the group has maintained a positive trend in key performance ratios in the third quarter which has seen:

  • COST to income increasing slightly to 37.7 per cent but remains in-line with recent levels;
  • CAPITAL adequacy increasing to 23.4 per cent, well above BPNG’s (Bank of Papua New Guinea) 12 per cent requirement; and,
  • ROE (rate on equity) increasing to 29 per cent.

“BSP remains number one in most countries in lending and deposits in five of its seven counties with South Pacific’s leading channel network,” Fleming said.
“The interim dividend of K182 million paid on Oct 18 recognises BSP’s dividend policy which between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of profits paid to shareholders.
“BSP does contribute strongly to PNG’s financial system.
“With our large increasing branch network recognising that we need to transition our customers from a reliance on physical presence to a broader digital capability and we continue to invest in our digital solutions as well.
“From a tax perspective, we pay almost K300 million a year in tax which is close to 17 per cent of total company tax in PNG.
“We are a strong partner in PNG, certainly a company which contributes positively to growth and supports businesses and shareholders to ensure that PNG can continue to meet its own growth expectations.”