Twenty commercial banks in the country collectively earned a net profit of Rs 43.49bn over the first eight months of fiscal year 2024-25. According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the net profit over the period is 2.81 percent more than Rs 42.3bn that these banks reported in the same period of the previous fiscal year. 

Net profits of 11 commercial banks went up in the period, while nine saw a decline in their respective net profits. Nepal Bank Ltd logged the highest gain of 132.9 percent, with its net profit rising from
Rs 1.28bn in the first month of the previous fiscal year to Rs 2.98bn in the same period of the current fiscal year. Nepal Investment Mega Bank ltd (45.68 percent), Prabhu Bank (39.65 percent) and Global IME Bank Ltd (37.76 percent) also made significant net profit gains in the review period.

On the contrary, NIC Asia Bank (NIC) reported the biggest drop of 67.75 percent in its net profit.
NIC Asia’s net profit fell to Rs 819.99m in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, down from Rs 2.54bn in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (62.66 percent), Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd (40.09 percent) and Kumari Bank Ltd (31.98 percent) also reported a significant drop in their net profits.

Nabil Bank led the pack with a net profit of Rs 4.78bn over the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Global IME Bank (Rs 4.72bn) and Nepal Investment Mega Bank  (Rs 4.08bn) were the other banks with net profits in excess of Rs 4bn. 

Meanwhile, three commercial banks reported profit below Rs 1bn. Agricultural Development Bank reported the lowest net profit of Rs 738.03m, followed by NIC Asia Bank and Kumari Bank Ltd with net profits of Rs 819.99m and Rs 969.11m, respectively. Bankers say rising non-performing loan levels and declining investments have hit profitability of banks.