Bank profitability and its determinants in Pakistan: A panel data analysis after financial crisis

This study seeks to investigate the internal and external determinants of the Pakistan banking sector, specifically after the recent financial crisis of 2008. The sample data comprises of total 26 banks, which include 17 conventional, 5 Islamic and 4 public banks. The selected sample covers the period of five years from 2009 to 2013. A balanced panel data regression model has been used and considered return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as an alternative of bank's profitability. The results of the study suggest that bank’s profitability is significantly affected by its internal determinants while external determinants are insignificant. We find operating efficiency, liquidity, non-performing loans to total assets and real GDP has negative impact, whereas financial risk, gearing ratio, asset management, bank size, deposits, loans to total assets and inflation show positive impact on the assets side. On the other side, operating efficiency, gearing ratio, asset management, liquidity, deposits and real GDP have a positive impact while financial risk, bank size, asset quality and inflation exert negative impact on the equity side. During the study period, findings suggest that the Pakistan banking industry has managed well to avoid significant impact of external factors like inflation and GDP over profitability while efficient management is required to improve internal factors to be more profitable.