Nations Trust Bank posts record annual loan growth

• For full year reports earnings of Rs.57.76 a share or Rs.19.26bn, translating into a 15% increase

Nations Trust Bank PLC closed the year with its highest ever growth in loans for a single year, although slowed the growth in the final quarter ended in December 2025 and also the profits.

The bank expanded its loan book by Rs.142.27 billion in 2025, of which Rs.12.92 billion attributed to the December quarter. The bank did not provide reasons for the slowdown in the final quarter, though it may have reflected a deliberate strategy amid the impact of flooding in December.

The bank reported a net interest income of Rs.9.95 billion for the October-December quarter, up 7 percent from the same period in 2024. The net fee incomes too were up by 12 percent to Rs.2.43 billion. The trading gains were as high as Rs.1.69 billion, compared to a loss of Rs.331.87 million in the year earlier period.

The bank also reported a net other operating loss of Rs.1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to a gain of Rs.729.51 million in the year earlier period.

However, the bank did not have the baggage in 2025 of what is referred to as the ‘day-1 loss’ from the derecognition of the investments that the bank had on the international sovereign bonds in the 2024 December quarter.

Such losses were as high as Rs.3.42 billion in that quarter, which was absent in the December 2025 quarter.

Corresponding to that, the bank also had provision reversals worth of Rs.3.57 billion in the same quarter in 2024, as the bank brought back the provisions it set aside for the possible losses from the international sovereign bonds.

This time such has turned into provisions of Rs.249.37 million, likely coming from the loans, as the bank appeared to have made provisions in line with the growth in the loans. The bank saw its asset quality improving, as its Stage 3 loans ratio fell further to 0.91 percent, from 1.60 percent a year ago. Against this backdrop, the bank reported earnings of Rs.13.04 a share or Rs.4.35 billion for the October-December quarter, compared to Rs.13.90 a share or Rs.4.64 billion in the same period in 2024.

For the full year, the bank reported earnings of Rs.57.76 a share or Rs.19.26 billion, compared to Rs.50.39 a share or Rs.16.80 billion in 2024, translating into a 15 percent increase. Before the earnings were released, the bank’s voting share ended 25 cents or 0.07 percent lower at Rs.345.00. The non-voting share however was up 75 cents or 0.18 percent to Rs.425.75.

John Keells Holdings PLC directly held a 19.72 percent stake in the bank as of December 2025.