Exim Bank cuts quarterly loss by 41%, still faces cash crunch

Export Import (Exim) Bank of Bangladesh PLC has reported a significant improvement in its financial performance, with consolidated losses narrowing by 41% year-on-year to Tk333 crore in the July-September quarter of 2025. 

Despite the improvement, the shariah-based private lender continues to face a severe liquidity strain and rising provisioning pressures.

According to the bank's unaudited financial statement released on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today, loss per share stood at Tk2.30, compared to Tk3.91 in the same quarter of the previous year, reflecting the bank's gradual recovery from last year's deep losses.

For the January-September period, Exim Bank reported a cumulative loss of Tk314 crore, which was 22% lower than the Tk401 crore loss recorded in the corresponding period of 2024. During the nine-month period, its consolidated loss per share was Tk2.17, down from Tk2.77 a year earlier.

However, the bank's liquidity position remains under acute stress. Its net operating cash flow per share turned negative at Tk20.80, indicating that cash outflows far exceeded inflows during the first nine months of the year.

Following the earnings disclosure, Exim Bank's share price fell by 3.13% to close at Tk3.10 today.

Exim Bank has also been at the centre of regulatory and governance turmoil. In August 2024, the Bangladesh Bank dissolved the bank's board of directors, citing irregularities and governance failures. The central bank appointed five new members to the reconstituted board and removed former chairman Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder and his wife Nasreen Islam from their posts.

The bank is currently under close regulatory watch as it undergoes a merger process with four banks linked to controversial S Alam Group, a move intended to stabilise the group's troubled financial entities. 

Exim Bank's financial performance has been deteriorating over the past two years. In 2024, it posted a meagre net profit of Tk26 crore, which was 92% lower than the Tk338 crore earned in 2023. The bank did not declare any dividend for 2024, compared to a 10% cash dividend paid in 2023.