Determinants of Bank Profitability: Evidence from Commercial Banks of Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate the impact of different bank specific and macroeconomic variables on bank profitability by considering 23 commercial banks of Bangladesh based on data availability during the period 2013-17. These data are collected from the individual banks annual reports, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and a variety of publications of the Bangladesh Bank. The fixed effect model for panel data has been applied to operate the regression analysis among the variables. In the study, three identical measures of profitability namely Return on Asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Net Interest Margin (NIM) are used. In the model for ROA, the result indicated that earning variable (TIN, NII), and asset structure (DPST) have a significant positive relationship with ROA, and asset quality (NPL) has significant negative impact on ROA. For ROE, earning (TIN and NII) and capital strength (CAP) have a significant positive relationship of the entire explanatory variable with ROE. Only asset quality (NPL) has significant negative impact on ROE. For NIM, earning variables (TIN), capital strength (CAP) and liquidity (LTA) have a significant positive relationship with NIM. This study find no significant impact of the macroeconomic factors namely growth rate of GDP and rate inflation and rate of interest included in the models on profitability. For decision making and developing the performance of financial organization in the future the findings of this study can assist the investors, policymakers, management body and other stakeholders.