Prime Bank PLC, one of Bangladesh’s leading private commercial banks, reported a standalone net profit of BDT 6,804.2 million for the first nine months (9M) of 2026, marking a 10.8% year-on-year increase from BDT 6,142.8 million in the same period of 2025.
The earnings growth was driven by a sharp rise in investment income from government securities, higher other operating incomes and lower provisions, which more than offset a steep fall in net interest income.
Loan Book Grows 2.7% Since December to BDT 362,931.8 Million
Prime Bank’s loans and advances stood at BDT 362,931.8 million as at 30 September 2026, up 2.7% from BDT 353,255.4 million at the end of December 2025, adding BDT 9,676.4 million in nine months. Compared with September 2025, the loan book was up 9.8%, as the balance had dipped to BDT 330,430.9 million during the first nine months of 2025.
On a year-end basis, loans grew 12.7% in 2022, 6.3% in 2023, 8.9% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, indicating a marked slowdown in credit growth, with the bank adding only BDT 9,797.8 million to its loan book in 2025, its smallest annual increase in the review period.
Source: Prime Bank PLC standalone financial statements.
Specific Provision on Classified Loans Falls 73.7%
The provision data in the bank’s financial statements point to an easing in fresh loan stress. Specific provision charged against classified loans fell 73.7% year-on-year to BDT 550.0 million in 9M 2026 from BDT 2,094.5 million. Recovery from previously written-of-loans also rose 140.2% to BDT 907.4 million from BDT 377.9 million.
The bank wrote off BDT 1,291.1 million of fully provided loans during the nine months, compared with BDT 5,002.6 million in the whole of 2025, and the specific provision held against classified loans rose 1.7% to BDT 9,698.1 million from BDT 9,531.8 million at the end of December 2025.
The general provision charge remained minimal at BDT 23.5 million, including BDT 20.0 million for the off-shore banking units, compared with a net writeback of BDT 957.2 million a year earlier. As a result, total provision held against loans and advances stood at BDT 13,967.4 million as at 30 September 2026, up 1.2% from December 2025.
However, the interest suspense account, which holds unrealised interest on non-performing loans, rose 11.3% to BDT 6,925.9 million from BDT 6,224.5 million, indicating that pressure on asset quality has not fully eased.
Deposits Rise 9.6% to BDT 487,840.3 Million
Prime Bank’s deposits rose 9.6% to BDT 487,840.3 million as at 30 September 2026 from BDT 444,943.2 million at the end of December 2025, adding BDT 42,897.1 million in nine months. Compared with September 2025, deposits were up 22.1%. On a year-end basis, deposit growth accelerated each year, from 9.4% in 2022 to 14.8% in 2023, 17.6% in 2024 and 24.0% in 2025, when the bank added BDT 86,074.9 million, consistently outpacing loan growth since 2023.
Since December 2025, savings deposits recorded the fastest growth among the major categories, rising 24.8% to BDT 107,678.5 million, followed by term deposits at 8.6% (BDT 296,394.8 million) and current and other accounts at 4.9% (BDT 80,638.5 million), while bills payable fell 65.0% to BDT 3,128.5 million.
Within term deposits, fixed deposits grew 13.9% to BDT 244,790.5 million, while special notice deposits fell 46.5% to BDT 10,588.5 million. Low-cost current and savings deposits (CASA) made up 38.6% of total deposits, up from 36.7% at the end of 2025, while term deposits remained the largest funding source at 60.8%, down from 61.3%. With deposits growing more than three times as fast as loans, the gross loan-to-deposit ratio eased to 74.4% from 79.4% in December 2025, and the bank reduced its borrowings by 13.1% to BDT 87,778.7 million.
Source: Prime Bank PLC standalone financial statements.
Net Interest Income Falls 64.8% as Deposit Costs Climb
Net interest income (NII) declined 64.8% year-on-year to BDT 1,189.8 million in 9M 2026 from BDT 3,382.4 million, following a 53.1% fall in 9M 2025 from BDT 7,208.7 million in 9M 2024. Interest income rose only 3.5% to BDT 25,326.8 million, with interest on loans and advances up 3.3% to BDT 24,927.7 million, while interest expenses grew 14.5% to BDT 24,136.9 million. Interest paid on deposits jumped 28.4% to BDT 19,869.4 million, led by a 28.5% rise in interest on term deposits to BDT 14,699.9 million and a 51.3% rise on savings deposits to BDT 1,833.3 million. This was partly offset by a 23.9% fall in interest on borrowings to BDT 4,267.5 million, as interest on repo dropped 48.4%. As a result, NII accounted for only 5.7% of total operating income, down from 18.0% a year earlier.
Investment income remained the bank’s largest earnings source, rising 33.8% to BDT 16,169.7 million and accounting for 77.5% of total operating income, up from 64.2% a year earlier. Interest on treasury bills, bonds and reverse repo increased 32.1% to BDT 15,331.8 million, making up 94.8% of investment income, as the bank’s holdings of government securities grew 18.2% to BDT 224,915.6 million from BDT 190,286.9 million in December 2025, with treasury bills rising 76.7% to BDT 53,187.4 million. Gains on government securities trading rose 75.0% to BDT 1,095.9 million, though losses on the sale and revaluation of trading securities also increased 54.3% to BDT 375.9 million.
The bank made a gain of BDT 39.5 million on the sale of shares against a loss of BDT 31.5 million a year earlier, while dividend income fell 36.1% to BDT 78.3 million.
As a result, total operating income increased by BDT 2,034.1 million, or 10.8%, to BDT 20,852.7 million. The BDT 4,087.6 million rise in investment income and a 23.9% increase in other operating income to BDT 1,341.0 million, helped by higher retail, ATM and card income, more than offset the BDT 2,192.6 million drop in NII and a 5.2% decline in commission, exchange and brokerage income to BDT 2,152.2 million, the latter due to a 16.8% fall in exchange gains.
Salaries Drive a 12.1% Rise in Operating Expenses
Operating expenses rose 12.1% to BDT 9,214.8 million, an increase of BDT 991.3 million. Salaries and allowances were the main driver, rising 13.0% to BDT 5,258.5 million and accounting for 61.1% of the total increase. Other expenses grew 17.6% to BDT 1,919.0 million, contributing a further 29.0%, mainly due to higher bank charges, ATM expenses and contributions to the Prime Bank Foundation. Postage and telecommunication costs also rose 39.0% to BDT 287.9 million on a 53.6% jump in data communication charges. These were partly offset by a 50.7% fall in legal expenses to BDT 64.6 million and a 2.6% decline in depreciation and repairs to BDT 782.0 million. With costs growing slightly faster than income, the cost-to-income ratio edged up to 44.2% from 43.7%, and profit before provisions grew 9.8% to BDT 11,637.9 million.
Lower Provisions Lift Net Profit 10.8%
Total provisions fell 22.5% to BDT 1,125.0 million. Provision for loans and advances halved (down 49.6%) to BDT 573.5 million, led by the sharp drop in specific provision on classified loans, and provision for diminution in the value of investments fell 76.2% to BDT 71.5 million. This was partly offset by a rise in other provisions to BDT 480.0 million from BDT 15.0 million, including BDT 280.0 million for off-balance sheet exposures and BDT 180.0 million for impairment of investment in subsidiaries.
Profit before tax grew 15.0% to BDT 10,512.9 million. Tax provision rose faster, by 23.6% to BDT 3,708.7 million, as the deferred tax credit shrank to BDT 3.7 million from BDT 570.6 million a year earlier, pushing the effective tax rate up to 35.3% from 32.8%. Net profit therefore increased 10.8% to BDT 6,804.2 million.
Source: Prime Bank PLC standalone financial statements.
This is the bank’s highest nine-month profit in the five-year review period, with net profit growing at a compound annual rate of 24.6% since 9M 2022, though the pace of growth has slowed from 45.3% in 9M 2024 and 20.4% in 9M 2025.
Q3 Net Profit Rises 16.0%
In the third quarter (July–September 2026) alone, total operating income rose 11.3% year-on-year to BDT 7,234.7 million. Investment income increased 13.2% to BDT 5,240.3 million and commission, exchange and brokerage income grew 18.1% to BDT 777.2 million, while NII slipped 3.9% to BDT 851.9 million as interest expenses (up 10.0%) grew faster than interest income (up 8.4%). Operating expenses grew 13.6%, limiting the rise in profit before provisions to 9.8% at BDT 4,297.9 million. Provisions rose 21.9% to BDT 375.0 million, but a 1.7% decline in tax provision to BDT 1,450.0 million supported the bottom line. Net profit for the quarter rose 16.0% to BDT 2,472.9 million from BDT 2,131.2 million, contributing 36.3% of the bank’s nine-month profit.
On a consolidated basis, Prime Bank PLC and its subsidiaries reported a net profit of BDT 6,849.6 million in 9M 2026, up 8.9% from BDT 6,286.9 million in 9M 2025.
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