Bank South Pacific K283.15m net profit

BANK South Pacific posted an after tax profit of K283.15 million for the financial year 2010, The National reports.

The bank also announced that its assets as of December last year were worth K8.655 billion, up 6% from December 2009.

BSP chairman Kostas Constantinou made the disclosure in a financial result submitted to the Port Moresby Stock Exchange.

The bank’s pre-tax profit was K402.10 million, up 6% from K377.96 million posted at the end of 2009.

Constantinou said that emerging from period of some uncertainty into a year that held out some promise of a strengthening global recovery, and some positive expectations about the domestic economy, the BSP Group achieved sound result last year.

He said this was characterised by continued profitability and balance of sheet growth, showing operational and financial stability.

Constantinou said most of the growth was attributed to non-interest income streams following a fall in net interest margins occasioned by a prolonged decline in bank bill rates since late in the second quarter of the year.

The newly-appointed chairman stressed the re-branding of BSP continued to be successful last year with some emphasis given to the appropriate BSP branding of newly-acquired business in Fiji.

He said overall, the group posted well-rounded financial achievement for last year considering that the bank was progressing with major commitments to transform its programmes.

Constantinou said much work had been required on the integration of the newly acquired Fiji business.

“In 2010, there was evidence of a slow strengthening of global economic conditions with large traditional economic powers in North America and Europe showing more sustained recovery trends and the developing high-growth Asian and South American economies continuing to accelerate,” Constantinou said.

“PNG’s economy became increasingly exposed to those global trends as we move closer towards major steps change expected as the LNG project reaches production phase.

BSP was striving to get itself into a position where it would be able to achieve solid performances which would be competitive by global standards under these conditions.

“The 2010 results showed that we continue on track with this objective,” Constantinou added.