Business Report :
Six publicly listed banks have opted not to declare any dividends for the year 2024, despite reporting profits, due to non-compliance with the Bangladesh Bank’s stricter dividend distribution policy.
The banks are: NRBC Bank, South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce (SBAC) Bank, Exim Bank, Standard Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, and ONE Bank.
According to sources, these banks failed to meet the dividend distribution criteria set forth in the central bank’s directive issued on 13 March, resulting in no returns for investors this year.
In contrast, these banks had offered dividends ranging between 2% and 15% in 2023, as per data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Disclosures published on the DSE website on Thursday (29 May) show that five of the six banks – NRBC, SBAC, Exim, Standard, and Al-Arafah Islami – experienced sharp declines in profits in 2024 compared to the previous year.
ONE Bank, despite posting a profit increase in 2024, also refrained from issuing dividends due to non-compliance with the central bank’s dividend policy. The bank published its annual financials on 26 May.
As a result of the announcements, the share prices of NRBC, Exim Bank, and Al-Arafah Islami Bank dropped by 3.08%, 7.14%, and 7.57%, respectively, on Thursday. Meanwhile, SBAC Bank and Standard Bank saw no changes in their share prices.
Out of 36 listed banks on the DSE, over a dozen financially stable banks have already declared dividends for 2024. However, around two dozen financially struggling banks have been unable to do so, citing non-compliance with the Bangladesh Bank’s guidelines.
Due to these challenges, 19 banks failed to hold board meetings on scheduled dates to declare dividends and approve financial statements, often postponing them multiple times, according to DSE data.
Although the regulatory deadline for publishing annual financials and declaring dividends is within 120 days of year-end, the Ministry of Finance extended this deadline to 31 May for banks.
According to its disclosure, NRBC Bank reported a consolidated earnings per share (EPS) of Tk0.08 for 2024, down 96% from Tk2.40 in 2023. Its consolidated net operating cash flow per share fell to Tk12.10 from Tk13.13 in 2023, while net asset value per share declined to Tk16.55 from Tk17.58. The bank attributed the decline to reduced operating profits and increased provisioning requirements.
Higher deposit costs also impacted its operating cash flow.
In the first quarter of 2025, NRBC’s EPS dropped to Tk0.08 from Tk0.44 in the same period of 2024. The bank cited a 40.50% drop in net interest income and a 36.27% fall in fee-based income, which offset a 47.28% increase in investment income.
SBAC Bank also announced no dividend for 2024 as its EPS plunged by 80% to Tk0.13, down from Tk0.66 in 2023.
Exim Bank reported a 92% fall in EPS to Tk0.18, compared to Tk2.33 in 2023, and declared no dividend.
Standard Bank also refrained from dividend payments, with its EPS falling 40% to Tk0.74 in 2024, compared to Tk1.24 the previous year. However, in the first quarter of 2025, it posted a 7% EPS increase to Tk0.15.
Al-Arafah Islami Bank also decided not to pay any dividend for 2024. According to its disclosure, approved at a board meeting on 28 May, the bank’s consolidated EPS dropped 68% to Tk0.66 from Tk2.04 in 2023. The bank said Bangladesh Bank instructed it to maintain a Tk6,358 crore provision against investments, of which it managed to provision only Tk2,400 crore, with the rest deferred. This shortfall in provisioning led to the dividend omission.
