UCB’s quarterly profit plunges by 67% amid high funding costs
United Commercial Bank (UCB) posted a 67.49% year-on-year decline in its consolidated profit for the July-September quarter of the current fiscal year 2025-26.
The private sector lender's consolidated profit for the third quarter stood at Tk32.02 crore, a steep drop from Tk98.50 crore recorded in the same period of the previous year. Following the earnings disclosure, UCB's share price closed at Tk10.10 each on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today (16 October).
During the quarter, the bank's consolidated net interest income dropped to Tk343.20 crore from Tk673.58 crore in the same quarter of 2024, mainly due to higher funding costs and lower investment income. Its consolidated earnings per share (EPS) also fell significantly to Tk0.21, compared to Tk0.64 a year earlier.
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For the nine months from January to September, UCB's consolidated profit stood at Tk48.85 crore, a steep fall from Tk225.42 crore in the same period last year. The bank's consolidated net interest income for the nine months amounted to Tk1,152 crore, down from Tk1,691 crore in the previous year's corresponding period. Its consolidated EPS during the period dropped to Tk0.32 from Tk1.45 a year earlier.
During this period, the lender's total provision increased to Tk1,091 crore, compared to Tk804 crore in the same period last year, reflecting higher loan loss provisioning requirements. The bank's net asset value (NAV) per share stood at Tk26.02 at the end of September this year.
Recently, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) approved UCB's plan to issue Tk800 crore worth of non-convertible, unsecured, redeemable, and floating-rate subordinated bonds to meet its Tier-II regulatory capital requirements.
Earlier in June, the bank also announced plans to issue new shares equivalent to 50% of its audited paid-up capital to a strategic investor and to offer right shares at a 2:1 ratio – one right share for every two existing shares – at face value, to further strengthen its core capital.
