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i Impact of Credit Risk Management on Profitability of Nepalese Commercial Banks Reema Tuladhar Master of Research Western Sydney University 2017

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Page 1: Impact of Credit Risk Management on Profitability of ... · The findings indicate that credit risk management has significant impact on the profitability of Nepalese commercial banks

i

Impact of Credit Risk Management on

Profitability of Nepalese Commercial

Banks

Reema Tuladhar

Master of Research

Western Sydney University

2017

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Dedication

Firstly, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my father, the Late Ashok Ratna

Tuladhar, who always believed in me and supported me throughout his life for all my

decisions.

I also dedicate this thesis to my mother, Laxmi Tara Tuladhar, whose love, affection,

belief, encouragement and prayers made me able to achieve success and honor.

To my sister and her husband, Rinu Tuladhar and Kushal Raj Tuladhar, who have

always supported me in every way as a friend and a mentor.

To my loving husband, Ritesh Tamrakar and his family. His hours of hard work and

the family’s support enabled me to spend time on my research and writing to

complete this thesis.

Lastly, I would like to thank my brother, Anish Ratna Tuladhar, who has been a

constant source of encouragement.

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Acknowledgement

I would like to thank and express my humble appreciation to all those who helped me

with the completion of this thesis. I am grateful to my supervisor, Associate

Professor Maria Estela Varua, whose expertise, understanding, generous guidance

and support made it possible for me to write on a topic which is of great interest to

me. It was an overwhelming experience working with her.

I am highly indebted to Mr. Andy Nguyen and Mr. Md Abdullah Al-Masum for their

kind words and suggestions and in providing me with the materials and links that I

could not possibly have discovered on my own.

Also, I would like to thank my friend, Mr. Mason Prasad for his immense interest in

my topic of research and in helping me resolve some of my confusions.

Finally, I would also like to express my gratitude to all my lecturers who put their

faith in me and motivated me to do better.

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Statement of Authentication

I hereby declare that the work presented in my thesis is original except as acknowledged in the text to the best of my knowledge. The material, either in full or in part, has not been submitted earlier for a degree at this or any other academic institution.

Reema Tuladhar

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Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1

1.0 Background ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of commercial banks in Nepal ...................................................... 4 1.2 Significance of the study ............................................................................... 6 1.3 Research Gap and Contribution .................................................................... 7 1.4 Objectives ...................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Limitations of the study ................................................................................. 8 1.6 Organization of chapters ............................................................................. 10

Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 11 2.0 Risk management and bank performance ................................................... 11 2.1 Review of Empirical studies ....................................................................... 12 2.2 Profitability of Commercial Bank and Credit Risk Management ............... 21

2.2.1 Profitability of commercial bank ...................................................... 21 2.2.2 Bank profitability indicators ............................................................. 22 2.2.3 Bank’s risk management .................................................................. 23

Chapter 3 Method and Data Description .................................................................... 37 3.0 Model Specification……………………………………………………….37 3.1 Method of Analysis………………………………………………………. 39 3.1.1 Pooled Regression Analysis………………………………………...39 3.1.2 Panel Data Analysis………………………………………………...39 3.2 Data and Data Description…………………………………………….......41 3.2.1 Data and sources of data……………………………………………41 3.2.2 Data collection…………...…………………………………………42 3.2.3 Time horizon……………...…………………………………….…. 43 3.3 Descriptive Statistics……………...……………………………………… 43 Chapter 4 Discussion of Results……………………………………...……………..45 4.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………......45 4.1 Stationarity Test………………….….………………………………….…45 4.2 Pooled Regression Analysis…………………….….……………………...46 4.2.1 Determinants of ROA………………………….….…………….….47 4.2.2 Determinants of ROE………………………….….………………...52 4.3 Diagnostic Tests……………….……………………………………….….56 4.4 Model Fit………………………………………….……………………….56 4.5 Results of Panel Data Analysis…………………………………………....57 4.5.1 Panel data analysis on ROA………………………………….….….57 4.5.2 Panel data analysis on ROE………………………………………...60 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations……………………………………..63 5.0 Summary and Conclusion………………………………………………....63 5.1 Recommendation………………………………………………………….65 5.2 Contributions……………………………………………………………...66 5.3 Areas for Further Research………………………………………………..66 References…………………………………………………………………….….….68 Appendices…………………………………………………………………….…….75 Appendix A: Number of Financial Institutions, per sector and total from 1985-2017………………………………………………………………………………....75 Appendix B: List of Banks and Financial Institutions as of Mid-January, 2017 (Licensed by NRB)……………………………….....................................................75

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List of Tables

Table 1: Summary of Selected Empirical Studies………………………………….12

Table 2: Summary of Expected Relationship with Bank Profitability……………...38

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………………44

Table 4: Results of pooled regression analysis……………………………………..46

Table 5: Post Estimation Diagnostic Tests ………………………………………...56

Table 6: Results of panel data analysis on ROA……………………………………58

Table 7: Results of panel data analysis on ROE……………………………………61

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Number of Financial Institutions, per sector and total from 1985-2017…..6

Figure 2: The risk management process from ISO 31000:2009……………………26

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List of abbreviations

AIC Akaike’s Information Criterion

AQ Asset Quality

BIC Bayesian Information Criterion

BS Bank Size

CAR Capital Adequacy Ratio

CR Coverage Ratio

CRR Cash Reserve Ratio

FBM Female Board Member

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GFC Global Financial Crisis

LER Leverage Ratio

LR Liquidity Ratio

NGO Non-Government Organizations

NPL Non-Performing Loan

NPLR Non-Performing Loan Ratio

NRB Nepal Rastra Bank

P-value Probability Value

Prob. Probability

ROA Return on Asset

ROCE Return on Capital Employed

ROE Return on Equity

STATA Statistical data analysis software

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Abstract

Credit risk management in the banking sector is important not only because of the

Global Financial Crisis (GFC) experienced in recent years but also due to its greater

impact on bank’s financial performance, growth and survival. Credit loans is one of

the key sources of income of commercial banks, therefore managing the risk related

to credit greatly impacts the bank’s profitability.

This study investigates the impact of credit risk management on the profitability of

Nepalese commercial banks. Data from 28 commercial banks for the period 2011 to

2015 have been collected and analyzed using pooled regression analysis and panel

data analysis. In the model specification, return on asset (ROA) and return on equity

(ROE) were used as bank profitability indicators while capital adequacy ratio (CAR),

liquidity ratio (LR), bank size (BS), asset quality (AQ), leverage ratio (LER), non-

performing loan ratio (NPLR), cash reserve ratio (CRR), coverage ratio (CR), and

the number of female board member (FBM) were used as indicators of credit risk

management.

The findings indicate that credit risk management has significant impact on the

profitability of Nepalese commercial banks. Results show that coverage ratio, capital

adequacy ratio, and bank size have a positive impact on bank performance. On the

other hand, leverage ratio, non-performing loan ratio and female board member are

found to have a negative impact on bank performance. However, liquidity ratio, asset

quality, and cash reserve ratio turned out to be not significant variables in

determining bank’s performance. The study thus recommends an effective credit risk

management for commercial banks of Nepal based that maintains an optimum level

of capital adequacy ratio, controls and monitors non-performing loan, enhances

coverage ratio, balances leverage ratio, motivates female board members, and

increases bank size to enhance financial performance.

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Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter provides a general understanding of the research area. It starts with the overview of commercial banks in Nepal followed by the importance of the study and then by the research objetives. The chapter ends with the short description of the remaining chapters.

1.0 Background

The financial sector performs a significant role in a country’s economic development

(Das & Ghosh, 2007). Banks are very important component of a country’s financial

sector as they have many branches and subsidiaries operating domestically and

internationally. Specifically, commercial banks play a vital role in the allocation of

resources in most countries. They have the function of channelling funds from

depositors to investors continuously. However, this is only feasible if they are able to

generate the required income to cover the cost of operations. In short, commercial

banks need to be sustainable in order to perform their intermediation function.

In Nepal, a major proportion of the financial sector’s total assets are held by

commercial banks. Like banks in other countries, the major function of commercial

banks is to extend credit (Timsina, n. d.), and it is with this function that banks are

able to increase their profits. However, it is important to note that banks differ from

each other in various ways such as in their objectives, products, as well as to the

services they provide. Further, in their day to day activities, banks face number of

risks. Bessis (2011) categorized some of the major risks that banks face as: credit

risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk, mismatch risk, market liquidity risk, market risk,

and foreign exchange risk. These risks will be briefly discussed in the later section.

Amongst these many risks faced by banks, credit risk plays a significant role on its

financial performance as a large chunk of banks income is earned from the loans

provided to their customers in the form of interest income (Kolapo, Ayeni, & Oke,

2012). The Asian financial crisis, which was initiated in Thailand in the middle of

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1997, made the affected countries experience a significant depreciation in their

currencies, depressed equity prices, and several financial and economic dislocations.

Currency markets in emerging Asian economies recorded huge falls ranging from

34% in the Philippines and 49% in Thailand, while the equity markets also declined

abruptly from 29% in Thailand to 50% in South Korea during the second half of

1997 (Shabbir & Rehman, 2016). For example, economic growth in the region,

which stood in the 6% to 8% neighbourhood prior to the crisis, fell into recession a

year after the crisis hit the East Asian.

The East Asia Financial crisis was indeed remarkable in many ways as it hit the most

rapidly growing economies in the world (Radelet & Sachs, 1998). It is the least

anticipated financial crisis in many years yet the sharpest to hit the developing

nations since the 1982 debt crisis (Radelet & Sachs, 1998). When the financial crisis

of the 1980’s and 1990’s became worldwide, new risk management banking

techniques were introduced (Poudel, 2012) and were the focus points during global

financial crisis (GFC) (Bessis, 2011). Janet L. Yellen for example wrote in Global

Economic Viewpoint (2007) that there are several views on why GFC happens. The

first view is that it was a classic “liquidity” crisis much like a banking panic, where

depositors’ fears about insolvency, well-grounded or not, become a self-fulfilling

prophecy as their withdrawals bring the bank to ruin. The second view focuses more

on the vulnerabilities that existed in the affected nations’ economic fundamentals,

which threatened to lead to solvency difficulties. One such vulnerability was the

pursuit of risky lending practices by financial intermediaries. In part, this was due to

problems with the quality of supervision and regulation of the financial sector. But

the problem also lay with the long tradition of so-called “relationship lending.”

Rather than basing lending decisions on sound information about the fundamental

economic value of specific investment projects, banks and other financial

intermediaries based them on personal, business or governmental connections. As a

result, bank loan portfolios became particularly risky. And these risks became grim

realities when economic conditions slowed in these countries in early 1997.

Even after the recent global economic crisis (GFC) credit risk has remained one of

the topical issues of the financial system having caught the attention of both scholars

and industry professionals (Kurawa & Garba, 2014). Credit risk (also known as

default risk, performance risk, or counterparty risk) is defined as the possibility that a

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contractual party will fail to meet its obligations in accordance with the agreed terms

(Brown & Moles, 2012). It is a risk of financial loss whereby money invested by

banks to their customers in the form of loans are not repaid back (Giesecke, 2004).

Credit risk is a significant risk faced by banks by the nature of their activity and the

success of banks in terms of financial performance depends on efficient management

of it than any other type of risk that bank faces (Giesecke, 2004).

Likewise, Burton, Nesiba, and Brown (2015) define credit risk as the probability of

debtor not paying the principal and/or the interest due on an outstanding debt. As

stated earlier, loan interest is one of the major sources of income in commercial

banks but also the primary source of credit risk to the banks (Bhattarai, 2014). When

a bank issues loans to their customers, they expect them to repay the principal and

interest amount on an agreed time. However, if both the principal and interest

payment are received on an agreed time with agreed terms, it is known as performing

loan (Kolapo et al., 2012). If the loan payment is not received on time, it is known as

a non-performing loan (NPL) (Kolapo et al., 2012). NPL is normally classified into

three categories namely: a substandard loan, doubtful loan and loss loan (Kolapo et

al., 2012). If the loan is not repaid more than 90 days from its due date is known as

substandard loan and if it is not repaid more than 180 days from loan due date is

known as a doubtful loan. If the loan is not repaid more than 360 days from its due

date is known as loss loan (International, 2005). When the loss loan category

accumulates to a large amount, it is a huge loss to the bank (Gestel & Baesens,

2009).

Kithinji (2010) identifies major sources of credit risk as limited institutional capacity,

inappropriate credit policies, volatile interest rates, inappropriate laws, low capitals

and liquidity levels, directed lending, massive licencing of banks, poor loan

underwriting, poor management, negligence in credit assessment, poor lending

practices, government interference and inadequate supervision by the central bank. In

order to minimize credit risk arising from these sources, Laker (2007) recommends

the necessity for the financial system to: (i) have well-capitalized banks, (ii) provide

service to a wide range of customers, (iii) share information regarding borrowers,

(iv) have a stabilise interest rate, (v) increase bank deposits and credit to borrowers,

and (vi) reduce non-performance loan.

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In order to mitigate risk and to avoid financial and economic difficulties, risk

management is very important and is essential for long-term success of banks. The

effective management of credit risk not only enhance profitability and viability of

banks but contributes to the systemic stability and efficient allocation of capital in the

economy (Psillaki, Tsolas, & Margaritis, 2010). This is very important to banks as it

is an integral part of the banks’ loan process. Credit risk management can be defined

as identification, measurement, monitoring and control of credit risk arising from the

possibility of default in loan payment (Coyle, 2000; James, 1966). While the banks

do not have a clear signal as to what proportion of the borrowers will likely default,

the uncertainty results to the variation in profitability among banks as well. The main

aim of managing credit risk is to maximize bank’s return adjusted for the risk while

keeping an acceptable level of exposure (Ndoka & Islami, 2016). Generally, senior

management creates and develops policies and procedures for loan administration

and gets the approval from the board of directors and are responsible for

implementing it (Ndoka & Islami, 2016). Ideally, the senior management should

ensure that implementation would involve clear communication of policies and

procedures to all staff related to loan approval process in the hierarchy (Ndoka &

Islami, 2016). Moreover, effective credit risk management is then verified by an

internal risk control and audit that monitors credit discipline, loan policies, approval

policies, portfolio level risk and facility risk exposure (Gestel & Baesens, 2009).

Hence, a sound credit risk management framework is important for efficient

management of credit risks in enhancing profitability and its survival.

To summarize, the financial system of a nation holds critical importance on banks’

credit risk and its management. A strong credit risk management avoids significant

drawbacks and increase banks financial performance. Good financial performance

rewards shareholders for their investments. This will then encourage additional

investment and bring economic growth. In contrast, poor banking performance can

lead to banking failure and crisis which may have a negative consequence on

economic growth.

1.1 Overview of commercial banks in Nepal

The banking sector in Nepal first started with the establishment of Nepal Bank

Limited as a first commercial bank in 1937 (Gajurel & Pradhan, 2012). This was a

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joint-venture between the government sector with 51 percent share and the private

sector with 49 percent share (Acharya, 2003). The establishment of Nepal Rastra

Bank as a central bank of Nepal in 1956 gave new momentum to development and

growth of the Nepalese financial system (Gajurel & Pradhan, 2012). Within a

decade, the number of major banking institutions were established in the public

sector such as Agriculture Development Bank, Nepal Industrial Development

Corporation, Employees Provident Fund Corporation, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Credit

Guarantee Corporation, Nepal Insurance Corporation, and Securities Marketing

Centre (Acharya, 2003). The expansion of the sector enabled the start of major

financial activities in the country such as issuance of shares, provident fund,

insurance etc.

The financial history of Nepal indicate that the 1980s saw a major structural change

in financial sector policies, regulations and institutional developments (Bank, 2015a).

For example, in the beginning of the 1980s, there were only two commercial banks

and two development banks in the country (Bank, 2009) but after the expansion of

the liberalization of the financial sector by the government, many private banks,

joint-venture banks and non-banking financial institutions were established in Nepal

(Gajurel & Pradhan, 2012). Thus, by the end of mid-January 2017, altogether 219

banks and non-bank financial institutions were licenced by Nepal Rastra Bank to

operate in the country. Out of these 219, 28 were “A” class commercial banks, 57

were “B” class development banks, and 36 were “C” class finance companies, 48

were “D” class micro-finance financial institutions, 15 saving and credit

cooperatives, 25 non-government organizations (NGOs) and 10 other institutions.

Appendix A presents the historical data of the development of the financial sector in

Nepal. These data are also graphically presented in Figure 1.

Between the years 1970 and 1989, the central bank of Nepal focused on branch

expansion of commercial banks in rural areas while private commercial banks were

more focused on bank expansion in urban area rather than rural areas to avoid higher

cost of operation (Acharya, 2003). The Nepalese banking industry has changed

significantly as a result of liberalization, globalization, deregulation, and

advancement in information technology. The financial sector liberalization led to

entry of new banks in the Nepalese financial market while globalization generated

competitiveness among individual banks. In addition, the deregulation widened the

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scope of activities and defined the banking activities while the advancement in

information technology resulted in the adoption of advanced ways and tools in

performing the various banking activities (Gajurel & Pradhan, 2012).

Figure 1: Number of Financial Institutions, per sector and total from 1985-2017

1.2 Significance of the study

The degree of possible risk in the banking sector is of major concern to the various

stakeholders including the top management who operates the banking activities,

depositors whose funds are being used and regulatory bodies who are responsible for

the protection of banking system. The commercial banks operating in Nepal have

faced difficulties over the past years for multiple reasons. The major reasons

identified were relaxed credit standards and poor portfolio risk management

(Bhattarai, 2014). Most of the commercial banks in Nepal are evidenced to have

approve loans without proper examinations which may lead to increase in a number

of loan defaults and non-performing loans (Bhattarai, 2014). In addition, it is

contended that the existing credit risk management procedures are inadequate to

handle the existing credit risk challenges in Nepal (Bhattarai, 2014). Nevertheless, in

recent years, the central bank of Nepal has introduced policies to improve bank

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Commercial Banks Development Banks

Finance Companies Micro Finance Financial Institutions

Saving and Credit Co-operatives Non-Government Organizations

Total

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performance and has taken measures to minimize the negative effect of lending and

this is done by increasing capital requirement for banks and facilitating the merger of

financial institutions to build resilient and robust financial system (Bank, 2012-

2016). In a country where the financial sector is dominated by the commercial banks,

any failure in the sector has an immense implication on the economic growth of the

country. This is due to the fact that any bankruptcy that could happen in the sector

has a contagious effect that can lead to bank runs, crisis and bring overall financial

crisis and economic tribulations (Ongore & Kusa, 2013). Thus, there is need for the

Nepalese banking industry to ensure that effective strategies are being implemented

to minimize risk as well as maximize financial and market returns.

1.3 Research Gap and Contribution

As discussed earlier, Nepalese commercial banks have faced difficulties over the past

years mostly due to relaxed credit standard and poor portfolio risk management.

There are policies put in placements to improve bank performance as well as

measures to minimize the negative effect of lending. In order to meet the increased

capital requirement set by the central bank of Nepal, there is a tendency among

commercial banks to go into mergers ("Kumari, NCC, four dev banks to merge,"

2016, January 13), which may gradually minimize the level of competition amongst

banks. It is envisioned to result in the avoidance of inappropriate credit approval

processes blamed to be due to competition among banks.

A thorough review of the literature indicates that only a very few study has been

undertaken on bank risk management and bank performance in the context of

Nepalese commercial banks. One of the study was done by Yuga Raj Bhattarai, a

Ph.D. scholar at Tribhuvan University, Nepal in the year 2014 entitled “Effect of

credit risk on the performance of Nepalese commercial banks” and by Ravi Prakash

Sharma Poudel, a Ph.D. student of business school at University of New England,

Australia with a thesis entitled “The impact of credit risk management on financial

performance of commercial banks in Nepal” in the year 2012. Bhattarai (2014) has

considered only 14 commercial banks of Nepal and considered only three factors. He

recommended that a further study be undertaken taking into account other factors

which he also identified. Similarly, Poudel (2012) has considered very few variables

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and also recommended that further research incorporating more explanatory

variables.

Following the suggestions of Bhattarai (2014) and Poudel (2012) this study will

incorporate more explanatory variables. The identification of additional variables are

the outcomes of a thorough literature review (presented in chapter 2). Moreover, the

study will include a larger sample of commercial banks as compared to previous

studies. In additional, the research includes data after the implementation of policies

regarding the credit standard of commercial banks of Nepal.

In spite of the overall good performance of Nepalese banks, there are still a number

of banks declaring losses. Further, the recent experiences during GFC in the

developed countries and the bailouts that then followed are a motivation to carry out

this study as a precautionary and mitigating measure. It is important to understand

the performance of banks and its determinants for future development of the sector

and the economy.

1.4 Objectives

The overall purpose of this research is to investigate how credit risk management

will impact on the profitability of commercial banks of Nepal. Thus, the general

objective of this study is to assess the role of risk management on financial

performance of commercial bank in Nepal. Specifically;

(1) To identify the indications of financial performance of Nepalese commercial

banks.

(2) To ascertain the relationship between the determinants of risk management

and indications of financial performance.

1.5 Limitations of the study

The scope and limitations of this study include:

a. Limitations in research area

Financial sector of Nepal includes commercial banks, development banks, finance

companies, micro-finance financial institutions, savings and credit cooperatives and

non-government organizations which are all licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank (Central

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bank of Nepal). However, this research is limited only to the study of commercial

banks of Nepal and ignores the other types of financial institutions. The reason as to

why commercial banks are chosen for this study is that they have guidelines to

follow and are monitored regularly by the central bank of Nepal. They also hold the

most part of the assets of the sector.

b. Time period

This research includes data on Nepalese commercial banks for the period 2011 to

2015 which is 5 years’ financial period. The time frame includes the data on banks’

performance after the implementation of policies that is geared towards the

improvement of the standard of Nepalese commercial banks.

c. Data

A few of the commercial banks, specifically NIC Asia Bank Limited, Bank of

Kathmandu Lumbini Limited, Global IME Bank Limited, and Prabhu Bank Limited

have already been merged. Hence, the data for these four banks used in the study as

merged data. Therefore, the total number of commercial banks in Nepal as of 2017

rather than in 2011 is considered due to the unavailability of data as separate banks

for the banks which have merged.

Likewise, few banks namely: Civil Bank Limited, Janata Bank Nepal Limited, and

Mega Bank Nepal Limited were established only in 2010, while Century Bank

Limited was established on 2011. Thus a few data for these banks have zero values

for some of the variables.

d. Motivation

It was straightforward for me to decide my research area of study to be finance. I

have been a student of finance in both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

However, the decision on choosing the appropriate topic in this area was not very

easy for me. Nevertheless, six years of my work experience at the loan department in

a commercial bank of Nepal attracted me towards choosing this area. Thus, I decided

to finalize the topic that combines my knowledge as well as my work experience.

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Furthermore, this topic is of importance to the Nepalese banking sector as there are

only a few research conducted in the context of Nepal.

1.6 Organization of chapters

The remainder of the thesis is organized as follows:

Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework

In this chapter, the theoretical framework of risk management and bank performance

are first presented followed by the review of the various empirical studies and

researches in Nepal or other countries. The succeeding section of this chapter then

presents the theoretical literature pertinent to the research to better understand the

factors that may influence banks’ financial performance.

Chapter 3: Method and Data Description

This chapter discuss the models and methods used to ascertain the relationship

between bank management and the accounting performance of commercial banks of

Nepal. The data and data description are also presented and discussed. The chapter

ends with the descriptive statistics of the various variables included in the study.

Chapter 4: Discussion of Results

This chapter presents the empirical findings of the study. The chapter starts with a

short introduction, followed by the stationarity tests results and then the discussion of

the pooled regression analysis and ends with results of the panel data analysis.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation

This chapter presents the conclusions of the study. It starts with a summary of the

findings and then provides recommendations as well as areas of further research at

the end of the chapter.

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Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework In this chapter, the theoretical framework of risk management and bank performance are first presented followed by the review of the various empirical studies and researches in Nepal or other countries. The succeeding section of this chapter then presents the theoretical literature pertinent to the research to better understand the factors that may influence banks’ financial performance.

2.0 Risk management and bank performance

Banks are established with various objectives. These could either be to influence

banks’ performance, enhancing profitability or increasing shareholders return, and

are often accomplished at the cost of increased risk. Risk-taking is an inherent

component of banking and achieving either of these objectives is a reward for

successfully managing risk. Soyemi, Ogunleye, and Ashogbon (2014) observed that

the greater the risk, the higher the return, hence, the business must strike a trade-off

between the two. In addition, risk management in banking impacts significantly on

economic growth of the nation and business development. Inefficient management of

risk by banks may not only prevent banks from achieving its objectives but can also

lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, banking activities are always involved with various

kinds of risk. Risks are considered warranted when they are understandable,

measurable, controllable and within a banks capacity to willingly resist its adverse

effect (NRB, 2010). Sound risk management enables bank management to take risks

knowingly, reduce risks when appropriate, and prepare for the risk that cannot be

predicted (NRB, 2010). If successfully carried out it benefits the banks by increasing

efficiency and profitability, attracting more customers and staying in line with the

guidelines (Adeusi, Akeke, Adebisi, & Oladunjoye, 2014). Therefore, efficient

management of risk by banks have influence on their accounting performance.

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2.1 Review of Empirical studies

A thorough review of literature has been carried out to examine the impact of risk

management on financial performance in several dimensions. As this study is

focused on credit risk management in banking, the review mainly concentrated on

the studies related to the analyses of the impact of credit risk management on bank’s

performance in the context of various countries. Table 1 presents a summary of the

empirical studies undertaken by authors who have investigated the relationship

between credit risk management and bank performance along with the variables and

methods used by them.

Table 1: Summary of Selected Empirical Studies

S. No.

Author/s (year)

Variables Method Independent variables (x) Dependent variables (y)

1. Abdelrahim, K. E. (2013)

Capital Adequacy Ratio Effectiveness of Credit Risk Management

Regression Analysis and Questionnaire

Assets Quality Management Soundness Earnings of Credit Facility Liquidity Bank Size

2. Adeusi, S.O., Akeke, N. I., Adebisi, O. S. and Oladunjoye, O. (2014)

Cost of Bad and Doubt Loans Return on Asset Panel Data Estimation Technique

Non-Performing Loan Return on Equity Liquidity Return on Capital

Employed (ROCE) Equity-Total Asset Ratio Equity-Loan Ratio Debt-Equity Ratio

3. Aduda, J. and Gitonga, J. (2011)

Non-Performing Loan Ratio Return on Equity Regression Analysis and Questionnaire

4. Afriyie, H. O. and Akotey, J. O. (2012)

Non-Performing Loan Return on Equity Panel Data Analysis Capital Adequacy Ratio

5. Alshatti, A. S. (2015)

Capital Adequacy Ratio Return on Equity Panel Regression Model

Credit Interests/Credit Facilities Return on Asset Provision for Facilities Loss/Net Facilities Leverage Ratio Level of Non-Performing Loans

6. Berrios, M. R. (2013)

Insider Variable for Bank Net Interest Margin Regression Model Less Prudence Variable for

Bank Return on Asset

Compensation Variable for Bank

Return on Equity

Tenure Variable for Bank Cash flow to Assets

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Loans to Deposits Total Debt to Equity

7.

Bhattarai, Y. R. (2014)

Capital Adequacy Ratio Return on Asset Pooled Data Regression Model

Cash Reserve Ratio Bank Size Non-Performing Loan Ratio Cost per Loan Assets

8. Kaaya, I. and Pastory, D. (2013)

Loan Loss to Gross Loan Return on Asset Regression Model Non-Performing Loan

Loan Loss to Net Loan Impaired Loan to Gross Loan

9. Kithinji, A. M. (2010)

Amount of Credit Average Profit Regression Model Non-Performing Loan

10. Kurawa, J. M. and Garba, S. (2014)

Default Rate Ratio Return on Asset Random-Effect Generalized Least Square Regression

Cost per Loan Asset Ratio Capital Adequacy Ratio

11. Li, F. and Zou, Y. (2014)

Capital Adequacy Ratio Return on Asset Multivariate Regression Analysis

Non-Performing Loan Ratio Return on Equity

12. Nawaz, M., Munir, S., Siddiqui, S. A., Tahseen-Ul- Ahad, Afzal, F., Asif, M. and Ateeq, M. (2012)

Non-Performing Loan/ Loan & Advances

Return on Asset Correlation and Multiple Regression models

Loan & Advances/ Total Deposit

13. Ndoka, S. and Islami, M. (2016)

Non-Performing Loan Ratio Return on Asset Multiple Regression Model

Capital Adequacy Ratio Return on Equity

14. Ogboi, C. and Unuafe, O. K. (2013)

Loan Loss Provision Return on Asset Panel Data Estimation Technique

Loan and Advances Non-Performing Loan Capital Adequacy Ratio Liquidity Ratio

15. Ejoh, N. O., Okpa, I. B. and Egbe, A. A. (2014)

Liquidity Profitability Questionnaire

16. Poudel, R. P. S. (2012)

Default Rate Return on Asset Correlation and Regression

Cost per Loan Assets Capital Adequacy Ratio

17. Zubairi, H. J. and Ahson, S. (2014)

Advances and Investments / Total Assets

Return on Asset Regression Analysis

Number of Branches Return on Equity GDP Growth Rate Interest Rates (T- Bill Rates)

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Abdelrahim (2013) in an attempt to investigate the determinants, challenges and

drivers of developing the effectiveness of credit risk management of Saudi Banks’

have used descriptive and analytical methods. In the said study, CAMEL

independent variables were specified to be: capital adequacy ratio, assets quality,

management soundness, earnings of credit facility, liquidity, and bank size. The

findings of this study show that liquidity has a significant strong impact on the

effectiveness of credit risk management of Saudi Banks, whereas, bank size has a

negative impact on the effectiveness of credit risk management of Saudi Banks. On

the other hand, the other variables like capital adequacy, assets quality, management

soundness and earning were found to have an insignificant impact on the

effectiveness of credit risk management of Saudi Arabian banks.

Moreover, Abdelrahim (2013) has identified various challenges regarding the

effectiveness of credit risk management that are of vital importance to Saudi banks.

They include: low quality of assets, inadequate training, weak corporate governance,

lack of credit diversification, granting credit ceiling exceeding customer’s repayment

capacity, absence of risk premium on risky loans, priority of loan guarantees at

expense of customer repayment capacity, absence of analysis of customer’s financial

position, corruption of some credit officers and priority of profit at expense of credit

safety. To alleviate these challenges, he recommends for Saudi Arabian banks to

have a comprehensive strategy for managing credit risk, to strengthen the role of

credit risk committee, to implement Basel III accord, and to adopt available

sophisticated technique to mitigate credit risk.

Adeusi et al. (2014) evaluated the association of risk management practices and

banks’ financial performance in Nigeria using secondary data from annual reports

and financial statements of ten Nigerian banks for the period 2006 to 2009. The

authors have adopted the panel data estimation technique as the data collected for

their study is cross-sectional units observed over time. The independent variables

used by the authors included the cost of bad and doubt loans, non-performing loan,

liquidity, equity-total asset ratio, equity-loan ratio and debt-equity ratio. Whereas the

dependent variables used are return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The

findings of this study show that there is an inverse relationship between banks’

financial performance and cost of bad and doubtful loans; but a positive and

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significant relationship between capital assets ratio and banks’ financial

performance. The authors concluded that there is a significant relationship between

bank’s performance and risk management. The authors recommend that the credit

risk indicators identified which included cost of bad and doubt loans, debt-equity

ratio, and managed fund needs to be managed in a better way to achieve better

banks’ financial performance.

Aduda and Gitonga (2011) investigated the relationship between credit risk

management and profitability of thirty commercial banks in Kenya using both

primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire

while secondary data was obtained from bank’s annual report and financial

statements from 2000 to 2009. The authors used non-performing loan ratio as an

independent variable representing credit risk management and ROE as a dependent

variable as a measure of bank profitability. The method used in this study is

regression analysis. The responses from the questionnaire show that profitability

ratios greatly affect credit risk management. Similarly, the findings from regression

analysis show that NPLR is negatively related and statistically significant to ROE.

The study concludes that credit risk management has an effect on profitability at a

reasonable level in the sample commercial banks of Kenya.

Likewise, Afriyie and Akotey (2012) examined the impact of credit risk management

on the profitability of rural and community banks in Ghana using panel regression

model for the period 2006 to 2010. The authors have taken non-performing loan and

capital adequacy ratio as indicators of credit risk management, and ROA and ROE as

indicators of bank profitability. The findings of the study show the existence of a

significant positive relationship between non-performing loans and bank profitability

meaning that even though there is huge loan default, non-performing loans are

increasing proportionately to profitability. The authors have found the reason for

ineffective credit risk management practice among the rural and community banks of

Ghana and reported that banks shift the cost of loan default to other customers with

higher interest on loans. Due to this practice the community banks remained

profitable. This however reveals that rural and community banks in Ghana do not

have sound and effective credit risk management practice because theoretically, non-

performing loan reduces the bank profitability. The authors strongly recommend for

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the Bank of Ghana to tighten its control mechanism of the rural banking industry to

stop this practice.

In addition, Alshatti (2015) investigated the effect of credit risk indicators on banks’

financial performance during the period of 2005 to 2013 using thirteen commercial

banks of Jordan. The author used secondary sources to collect data through annual

reports of sample banks and carried out panel regression analysis study. The credit

risk management indicators used in this study are capital adequacy ratio, credit

interest/credit facilities, provision for facilities loss/net facilities, leverage ratio and

level of non-performing loans. The bank financial performance indicators are ROA

and ROE. The findings of this study show that there is a positive effect of non-

performing loans/gross loans on banks’ financial performance and a negative effect

of provision for facilities loan/net facilities ratio on banks’ financial performance.

However, he found that capital adequacy ratio and credit interest/credit facilities ratio

have no effect on banks’ financial performance. Further, the significant variables

found in this study are non-performing loans/gross loans, provision for facilities

loss/net facilities and the leverage ratio. The author recommends that the Jordanian

banks design an effective credit risk management system, operate under a sound

credit granting process, and to maintain an appropriate credit administration with

monitoring, processing and control mechanism. Overall, the study recommends

improving banks’ credit risk management to attain higher profitability.

Berrios (2013) attempted to explore the relationship between the increase in bank

risk and the global financial crisis, conducting the analysis in two phases. The first

phase considered the latest data available, including insider holdings and chief

executive officer compensation and tenure. While the second phase employed

regression modelling using the Mergent Online database as data source. The sample

size for the second phase is 40 banks which have been selected randomly from the

database, for the period 2005 to 2009 totalling to about 200 observations. The

performance variables used for the second phase are net interest margin, return on

assets, return on equity, and cash flow to assets. Whereas, the independent variables

used are insider variable for bank, less prudence variable for bank, compensation

variable for bank, tenure variable for bank, loans to deposits, and total debt to equity.

The findings suggest that insider holdings and chief executive officer of higher

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tenure have a negative impact on banks’ performance. However, it is emphasized in

the study that more evidence needs to be obtained before generalizing this finding.

The findings from regression result show a negative relationship between loans to

deposits and cash flows, but a positive relationship between lesser prudence in

lending and financial performance.

Bhattarai (2014) examined the effect of credit risk on the performance of Nepalese

commercial banks using pooled data of fourteen commercial banks of Nepal for the

period of 2010 to 2015 totalling to 77 observations. The 77 observations include

capital adequacy ratio, non-performing loan ratio, cost per loan assets, cash reserve

ratio and bank size as an independent variable; and return on assets as a dependent

variable. Regression analysis was used to assess the data. The findings of the study

showed that the commercial banks under consideration has been practicing poor

credit risk management. This was further evidenced by the negative effect of non-

performing loan ratio on bank performance and the positive effect of cost per loan

assets on bank performance. In contrast to other studies, the author found that capital

adequacy ratio and cash reserve have no influence on bank performance. Since there

is a significant relationship between credit risk and bank performance, the author

suggests that the banks establish proper credit risk management strategies by

conducting sound credit evaluation procedure before granting loans to customers.

Similarly, Ejoh, Okpa, and Egbe (2014) evaluated the impact of credit risk and

liquidity risk management on the profitability of deposit money held by banks in

Nigeria from 80 respondents using a questionnaire. The data obtained were analysed

using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The findings of this study

showed that there is a significant relationship between bank liquidity and profitability

of deposit money among Nigerian banks. Hence, the authors recommend that deposit

money banks should set up an effective system of internal controls to monitor risk in

order to ensure complete compliance. Moreover, the banks should maintain a balance

between deposit-loan ratios in order to avoid asset liabilities mismatch.

Also, Kaaya and Pastory (2013) analyzed the relationship between credit risk and

bank performance of commercial banks in Tanzania using regression analysis. The

credit risk indicators used by the authors include loan loss to gross loan, non-

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performing loan, loan loss to net loan, and impaired loan to gross loan. As in

previous studies, the bank performance indicator used is return on asset. The overall

findings of this study show that credit risk indicators used in this study have a

negative correlation with bank performance, meaning that an increase in credit risk

tends to lower bank performance. The authors recommend that banks need to

maintain a substantial amount of capital reserve to absorb credit risk in the event of

failure, as well as to enhance lending criteria, portfolio grading and credit mitigation

techniques to reduce chances of default.

Further, Kithinji (2010) examined the relationship between credit risk management

and profitability of commercial banks in Kenya from the period 2004 to 2008 using

regression analysis. The independent variables specified by the author include the

amount of credit and non-performing loans, whereas the dependent variable used is

return on total assets. In contrast to the finding of other studies, the results of this

study shows that there is no relationship between bank profit and the amount of

credit and level of non-performing loans. This means that the bulk of banks’

profitability is not influenced by the amount of credit and non-performing loan.

Hence, the author suggests for commercial banks aiming to enhance profitability to

focus on factors other than the amount of credit and non-performing loans.

Kurawa and Garwa (2014) devoted effort to assess the effect of credit risk

management on the profitability of Nigerian banks during the period 2002 to 2011

using the generalized least square regression technique as a methodology. The credit

risk management indicators used in this study are default rate, cost per loan asset and

capital adequacy ratio. The profitability ratio indicator like many other studies is

ROA. The findings of this study show that default rate, cost per loan assets and

capital adequacy ratio have a significant positive relationship with ROA. The authors

recommend that it is necessary for Nigerian banks to practice scientific credit risk

control, improve their efficacy in credit analysis and loan management, and minimize

the high incidence of non-performing loans and their negative effect on profitability.

As with previous studies, Li and Zou (2014) investigated the relationship between

credit risk management and profitability of commercial banks in Europe from 2007

to 2012. The authors collected data from the largest 47 commercial banks in Europe

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and analyzed them using multivariate regression analysis. The study used capital

adequacy ratio and non-performing loan ratio as proxies for credit risk management,

and ROA and ROE as proxies for profitability. The overall findings of this study

show that credit risk management has a positive effect on the profitability of

commercial banks in Europe, meaning that the better the credit risk management, the

higher is the profitability of commercial bank.

Likewise, Nawaz et. al. (2012) evaluated the impact of credit risk on the profitability

of Nigerian banks from 2004 to 2008 using multiple regression analysis. The ratio of

non-performing loan to loan & advances and ratio of loan & advances to total deposit

were used as indicators of credit risk. Return on asset was used as an indicator of

financial performance. The findings of this study show that bank profitability is

inversely influenced by the level of loan and advances, non-performing loan and

deposits thus exposing them to risk of illiquidity and distress. The authors

recommend for the management to be cautious when setting up the credit policy as

not to affect profitability.

In addition, Ndoka and Islami (2016) studied the relationship between credit risk

management and profitability of 16 commercial banks in Albania from 2005 to 2015

using a regression model. The independent variable used are non-performing loan

ratio and capital adequacy ratio. Again the dependent variables used are ROA and

ROE. The overall findings of this study show that there exists a correlation between

credit risk management of commercial banks in Albania and their profitability,

meaning that an efficient credit risk management leads to higher profitability. Based

on these findings, the authors recommend that commercial banks of Albania focus on

managing credit risk especially on the control and monitor of non-performing loans.

Similarly, Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) investigated the impact of credit risk

management strategies and capital adequacy on banks financial performance in

Nigeria from 2004 to 2009 using panel data analysis. The study considered loan loss

provision, loan and advances, non-performing loan, capital adequacy ratio and

liquidity as independent variables; and return on asset as the dependent variable. The

result of panel data regression showed that sound credit risk management and capital

adequacy impacted positively on bank’s financial performance with the exception of

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loan and advances which was found to have a negative impact on bank profitability.

Based on the result, the authors recommend Nigerian banks to establish appropriate

credit risk management strategies by conducting rigorous credit appraisal before loan

disbursement and drawdown. Additionally, the authors recommend Nigerian banks

to pay adequate attention to enhancing Tier-One capital.

Poudel (2012) attempted to identify the various parameters pertinent to credit risk

management as it affects banks’ financial performance by using data of 31

commercial banks of Nepal from 2001 to 2011 and by applying multiple regression

analysis. The parameters specified in the study were default rate, cost per loan assets

and capital adequacy ratio. The findings revealed that all these factors have an

inverse impact on banks’ financial performance, and that default rate is the most

significant predictor of bank financial performance. From the findings, the author

recommends for Nepalese commercial banks to emphasize more on risk management

as risk management, in general, has a significant contribution to bank performance.

Further, the author recommends that in order to reduce risk on loans and achieve

maximum performance, the banks need to allocate more fund to default rate

management and try to maintain an optimum level of capital adequacy.

Finally, Zubairi and Ahson (2014) examined the strength of linkage between current

risk management practices and profitability of five Islamic banks in Pakistan over a

seven-year period (2007-2013) using primary (survey questionnaire) and secondary

data (annual reports). Like many other studies, the dependent variables are in this

ROA and ROE. The explanatory variables are advances and investments/total assets,

number of branches, GDP per capita, interest rates, competition, and taxation. In this

study, a pooled regression analysis was employed to ascertain the relationship

between risk management practices and bank profitability. The study concludes that

risk management have a significantly negative impact on profitability during the

period 2007-2013.

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2.2 Profitability of Commercial Bank and Credit Risk Management

2.2.1 Profitability of commercial bank

In the banking industry, profitability means the bank’s ability to generate earnings in

comparison to its expenses and incurred costs during a specific period of time. It

shows the capacity of the bank to handle associated risk while increasing their

capital. It also indicates the effectiveness of management and competitiveness

amongst banks. There are various measures to determine bank profitability such as

return on capital employed, return on asset, return on equity, net profit margin, cost

of income ratio, net interest margin, risk-adjusted return on capital, price-earnings

ratio, total share return, return on invested equity, cash flow to assets etc. However,

Brealey, Myers, Allen, and Mohanty (2012) recommends the important measures of

bank profitability to be as return on asset (ROA), return on equity(ROE) and net

profit margin.

Profitability is a key factor for commercial banks as one of the major goals of

commercial banks is to increase their profitability (Duffie & Singleton, 2012). All

the activities within bank seems to affect their own profitability directly or indirectly.

There are several categories to determine bank’s profitability in the literature.

However, these can broadly be categorized into two groups which are internal

determinants and external determinants (Staikouras & Wood, 2011). Internal

determinants are influenced by decisions of bank management and policy objectives

which is controlled by the management (Staikouras & Wood, 2011). It reflects the

sources and uses of capital in the bank as well as liquidity management and expenses

management (Guru, Staunton, & Balashanmugam, 2002). External determinants

refer to factors outside the bank which is beyond the control of management

(Staikouras & Wood, 2011). This study however will mainly focus on internal

determinants as it aims to examine the impact of credit risk management on bank

profitability. However, some credit-related factor like the amount of non-performing

loan is beyond the control of management. In addition, some management decisions

are influenced by external regulations, hence, some external determinants are also

included in the model specification.

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2.2.2 Bank profitability indicators

As bank profitability is an important aspect of the research, a thorough discussion of

the appropriate measure of bank profitability is presented. As discussed earlier, there

are various measures of bank profitability and the choice of the specific measure will

depend on the objective of the research and practice of the sample banks. For this

research, the return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) are the measures that

will be used as indicators of bank profitability. ROA and ROE are not only

traditional measures of performance but also the most important measures of bank

profitability in the literature.

2.2.2a Return on Asset (ROA)

Return on Asset (ROA) is the ratio of net income to total assets which measures net

income earned per dollar of assets. It reflects how well the management is utilizing

the bank’s real investment resources to generate profit (Vong & Chan, 2009). Thus,

it shows how efficient and profitable a bank’s management is, on the basis of its total

asset. Mathematically, ROA is expressed as,

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴

… … … … … … … … … … … (1)

For banks with similar risk profiles, ROA is a useful static for comparing bank

profitability as it avoids distortions produced by differences in financial leverage

(Bhattarai, 2014). From an accounting perspective, ROA is a comprehensive measure

of overall bank performance (Jr Sinkey & Sinkey Jr, 1992). ROA has been widely

used as a metric of bank profitability while examining the relationship between credit

risk management and bank performance in earlier studies such as that of Alshatti

(2015), Berríos (2013), Bhattarai (2014), Kaaya and Pastory (2013), Kurawa and

Garba (2014), Nawaz et al. (2012), Ndoka and Islami (2016), Ogboi and Unuafe

(2013), Adeusi et al. (2014), Poudel (2012), Zou and Li (2014), Zubairi and Ahson

(2014) etc. thus, providing us an argument for using return on asset (ROA) as an

indicator of bank profitability.

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2.2.2b Return on Equity (ROE)

Return on Equity (ROE) is the ratio of net income to total equity capital which

measures the return to shareholders on their equity. It measures how well the

management is utilizing the shareholder’s invested money to generate profit

(Athanasoglou, Brissimis, & Delis, 2008). ROE is one of the most important

measures for evaluating efficiency and profitability of bank’s management based on

the equity that shareholders have contributed to the bank.

The equation for ROE is written as,

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸

… … … … … … … … … … … (2)

Generally, a bank with higher ROE has a tendency to be able to generate more return

to their shareholders. The higher the bank’s ROE compared to its competitors, the

better the bank is. Therefore, the stockholders of the banks always prefer higher ROE

however this could sometimes be a threat to the bank (Saunders & Cornett, 2011)

because an increase ROE implies that net income is increasing faster relative to total

equity. Further, a huge drop in equity capital may result in a violation of minimum

regulatory capital standards which tends to increase the risk of solvency for the banks

(Saunders & Cornett, 2011). A number of previous empirical studies (Aduda and

Gitonga (2011), Afriyie and Akotey (2012), Alshatti (2015), Berríos (2013), Ndoka

and Islami (2016), Adeusi et al. (2014), Zou and Li (2014), Zubairi and Ahson

(2014)) examining the relationship between credit risk management and bank

performance have used ROE as a metric of profitability. Thus, the second measures

of profitability used in the study is ROE.

In this study, the dependent variables use to measure the effectiveness of

management in utilizing assets and shareholder’s equity of commercial banks are the

ROA and ROE respectively.

2.2.3 Bank’s risk management

Another important aspect of this study is credit risk management. In this section, a

brief introduction of the various types of risks associated with banks and overall risk

management process are presented. The succeeding subsection will discuss these in

more detail.

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2.2.3.1 Bank’s risk

Risk can be defined as the probability of various outcomes occurring. The various

activities performed in a bank are exposed to different types of risk. In the context of

banking and risk management, risk can be categorized as: (i) the risk that can be

managed, (ii) the risk that can be transferred to others, and (iii) the risk that can be

eliminated (Santomero, 1997).

As mentioned before Bessis (2011) has identified and categorized bank risk as credit

risk, liquidity risk or funding risk, interest rate risk, mismatch risk, market liquidity

or market price risk, market risk, and foreign exchange risk. A brief description of

these risks are as follows:

Credit or default risk: Credit risk is the most important type risk amongst the many

types of risks that bank faces which influences bank performance (Boffey & Robson,

1995). Credit risk is the situation where the actual return of an investment differs

from the expected return. It may represent the possibility of losing the principal

amount of investment as well as interest amount accrued on it (Gestel & Baesens,

2009). Whenever, a borrower, counterparty, or debtor does not honour to pay their

debt obligation as their specified contract terms, there arises credit risk to the lender

(Dam, 2010). In banking, credit risk affects the bank’s profitability, liquidity position

and cash flows factors that are identified as principal causes of bank failure and the

greatest threat to the bank performance (Van Greuning & Brajovic-Bratanovic,

2009). Bessis (2011) has further classified credit risk into: default risk, migration

risk, exposure risk, counterparty risk, recovery risk, and correlation and

concentration risk.

Liquidity risk or funding risk: Liquidity risk is the situation whereby the financial

institutions have to make payment but the available assets are long-term and can only

be converted quickly with the capital loss (Burton, Nesiba, & Brown, 2015). This

situation can arise when depositors withdraw their funds unexpectedly and raising

further deposits becomes impossible to do. To avoid such condition, a financial

institution can hold highly liquid assets which can then be converted quickly into the

required amount of fund to reduce their liquidity risk (Burton et al., 2015).

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Interest rate risk: Interest rate risk for the financial institution is represented by a

decline in net interest income (Bessis, 2011). It is the situation where the interest rate

will change unexpectedly such that the interest cost exceeds interest revenues. Such

condition arises when a financial institution raises deposits through short-term

borrowings such as savings deposit or commercial papers and lend long term such as

mortgages or bonds. If the interest rate goes up, the cost of short-term liabilities rises

quickly than the returns on the long-term assets (Burton et al., 2015).

Mismatch risk: It arises when there is the gap between maturities and interest rate

reset dates of assets and liabilities (Bessis, 2011). Mismatch risk implies that there is

an interest rate risk as well as liquidity risk. Interest rate risk arises from the

difference between short-term deposit rate and long-term lending rate in a given

period of time. Similarly, liquidity risk arises when financial institutions fall short of

the required funds and the reason for this is a mismatch between maturity times

(Bessis, 2011). Banks and financial institutions can avoid such situation by lending

in higher rates and borrowing at lower rates.

Market liquidity or market price risk: It arises only for those assets which are

traded on low volume. For the assets which are highly liquid such as Treasury bills

or bonds, market liquidity risk does not exist at all.

Market risk: It is the risk of possible losses due to adverse movements in market

prices (Bulletin, 1996) such as short-term loss in foreign exchange and long-term

loss for derivatives (Bessis, 2011).

Foreign exchange risk: It is a risk that arises when the financial institution holds

foreign currencies and incurs losses due to an adverse change in exchange rate

between the currencies (Burton et al., 2015).

Of all these risks faced by the banks, credit risk plays a significant role as it

influences the profitability of the bank more directly. When the bank does not

receive its interest on the loan from borrowers, the bank losses its interest income

resulting in a decline in its profitability. The principal amount is more important in

case of default as the invested principal amount is accumulated through a number of

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depositor’s fund. Banks usually secure its loan amount provided to borrowers with

secured mortgages and various recovery options. The loss in principal amount

creates an additional burden of recovery and most of the times, the bank does not

receive its full amount of default which directly impacts on bank profitability. This

study mainly focuses on credit risk in banks and how it influences the commercial

banks’ profitability.

2.2.3.2 Risk Management

Risk management is focused on eliminating volatility in earning while avoiding

possible losses. Adeusi et al. (2014) state that risk management process is a

procedure whereby banks identify risk, measure risk, monitor risk and control risk, as

well as determine whether they hold adequate capital to mitigate risks. ISO 31000:

2009 have presented the risk management process to be as follows:

Source: Purdy, 2010

Figure 2: The risk management process from ISO 31000:2009

Figure 2 illustrated the risk management process from ISO 31000:2009. It indicates

that risk management process has basically two elements which are communication

and consultation with internal and external stakeholders, and monitor and review of

the internal and external environment. The main backbone of risk management

process includes three steps that of establishing the context, risk assessment, and risk

treatment. The first step starts with defining what the organization aims to achieve;

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and outlining the internal and external factors which could influence the organization

goals (Purdy, 2010).

Under ISO 31000, the second step of risk management includes risk assessment

which comprises of three vital phases which include the identification of the risk by

understanding what could happen, how, when and why. Followed by the risk analysis

which involve the understanding of each risk and its consequences. The final phase is

risk evaluation which involves making a decision about the level of risk (Purdy,

2010). The third step of risk management includes risk treatment, which is done

either by improving existing controls or by developing and implementing new

controls (Purdy, 2010).

The risk management process that we discussed has been considered after numerous

options by (ISO 31000:2009) which is a general risk management process. In

practice, there is iteration among the steps and between elements of communication

and consultation, and monitor and review. However, we can relate it with bank’s risk

management process as well. The banking activities like accepting deposits, lending

money, foreign exchange transactions, money transfers etc. are significantly evolving

over time resulting in the banks’ having more exposure to the various kinds of risks.

The need for efficient management of risk in the banking sector is in order to avoid

possible losses, avoid bankruptcy, provide benefit for shareholders and depositors,

and enhance profitability (Gestel & Baesens, 2009).

2.2.3.3 Credit Risk Management

Credit risk management is a critical component of a comprehensive approach to risk

management and is essential for long-term success of commercial banks. Managing

credit risk is one of the multidimensional tasks and can be done through various

approaches. Afriyie and Akotey (2012) define credit risk management as a structured

approach to manage uncertainties through risk assessment; mitigate risk using

managerial resources; strategies development such as transferring risk to another

party, avoiding risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, accepting some or all of

the consequences of particular risk. Similarly, Bielecki and Rutkowski (2013)

explain credit risk management can be done through hedging of default able claims,

integration of risks and portfolio management.

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Santomero and Babbel (1997) have outlined the basic principles of managing credit

risk as:

(i) Standard setting and financial reporting

(ii) Underwriting authority and loan limits

(iii) Investment guidelines or strategies and

(iv) Incentive schemes

To summarize, a good credit risk management avoids important drawbacks like lack

of credit discipline, credit concentrations, aggressive underwriting and products at

inadequate prices (Gestel & Baesens, 2009).

2.2.3.4 Credit Risk Management Indicators

Various credit risk management indicators are chosen for this study on the basis of

their importance to credit risk management. Some of the indicators are chosen based

on their significance in previous studies. Further two variables are introduced on the

basis of their theoretical relevance to credit risk management.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)

Capital adequacy ratio, calculated as the ratio of the amount of capital to the risk-

weighted sum of bank’s assets, is a measure of bank’s capital amount expressed as a

percentage of its risk-weighted credit exposure (Poudel, 2012). It is the percentage of

capital that a bank has to hold as specified by regulatory requirement. It is essential

to maintain a specified CAR in order to determine the capacity of banks in meeting

losses and ensure that banks would still bear a reasonable level of losses in worst

scenario (Reddy & Prasad, 2011). In general, banks with high CAR are considered to

have low risk and likely to meet its financial obligations. The higher the ratio, the

more will be the depositors’ protection and stability of the financial system. As banks

with strong capital adequacy are able to absorb possible losses thus preventing them

from failure and insolvency, it could be considered as enhancing profitability.

Capital-based regulation has become a key issue in the banking industry caused by

the sub-prime mortgage problems which led to a financial crisis of 2007 (Hyun &

Rhee, 2011). To maintain the specified capital adequacy ratio, capital constrained

banks either collect outstanding loans or becomes reluctant to issue new lending

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(Hyun & Rhee, 2011). The bank capital is more likely to be obligatory during

economic downturns, recapitalization would not be easy, and hence, banks meet the

capital ratio by reducing its lending (Hyun & Rhee, 2011).

A number of empirical studies reviewed that used CAR in their analysis have mixed

results. For example, Abdelrahim (2013); Afriyie and Akotey (2012); Bhattarai

(2014); Kurawa and Garba (2014); and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) found a significant

positive relationship between capital adequacy ratio and bank performance. On the

other hand, Alshatti (2015); Zou and Li (2014); Ndoka and Islami (2016); and

Poudel (2012) found a negative association between capital adequacy ratio and bank

performance. Most studies however indicate that CAR is to be maintained in banks

in order to prevent them from possible losses. Thus a positive relationship between

capital adequacy ratio and profitability is expected.

The equation for capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is given by:

𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =𝐶𝐶𝑇𝑇𝐶𝐶𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇

𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴𝑅𝑅 𝑊𝑊𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝑊𝑊ℎ𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴… … … … … … … … … … … … (3)

Liquidity Ratio (LR)

Liquidity in banks refers to a situation where they can manage sufficient funds either

by increasing liability or converting their assets to cash at a reasonable cost in a short

span of time (Abdelrahim, 2013). It is the ability of banks to fund all short-term

obligations when they fall due. These short-term obligations may include lending,

deposit withdrawals, investment commitments, and liability matures (Amengor,

2010). It is measured by the ratio of credit facility to total deposit (Cole, Gunther, &

Cornyn, 1995). The risk of liquidity to a bank is the risk of loss resulting from the

inability to meet its need for funding (Lartey, Antwi, & Boadi, 2013). A high

liquidity ratio means that a bank is holding too much of its liquid assets which could

be utilized in other profitable areas whereas, a low liquidity ratio denotes that a bank

might struggle to fund its short-term obligations, which is a greater concern to

investors.

A number of empirical studies based on the relationship between liquidity ratio and

bank profitability showed mixed results. Abdelrahim (2013) found a strong

significant positive impact of LR on bank performance whereas, Adeusi et. al. (2014)

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and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) found a negative effect of liquidity ratio on the

financial performance of banks. Hence, in view of previous studies and theory, a

negative relationship could be expected between change in liquidity ratio and bank’s

financial performance. This is because when the bank holds too much of it in cash, it

losses opportunity to capitalize its fund in more profitable areas.

The equation for liquidity ratio (LR) is mathematically given by:

𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅 =𝐿𝐿𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼

𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑡𝑡𝑁𝑁𝐶𝐶𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁… … … … … … … … … … … … (4)

Bank Size (BS)

Bank size accounts for the existing economies and diseconomies of scale in the

banking market (Athanasoglou, Brissimis, & Delis, 2008). Larger banks tend to be

more active in markets, have a greater product and have better possibilities for risk

diversification (Lehar, 2005). Also, larger banks can make efficiency gains as they

do not operate in the too competitive market (Flamini, Schumacher, & McDonald,

2009). However, Demirgüç‐Kunt and Maksimovic (1998) have the view that the

extent to which financial, legal and other factors affect the profitability of bank is

closely related to its size. Bank size, measured by the log of the book value of total

assets calculated in its currency (Lehar, 2005) has been taken as one of the control

variables in this study to analyze bank financial performance.

Only a few authors have used bank size as a control variable to investigate the impact

of credit risk management on bank profitability. Bhattarai (2014) found that bank

size has a positive relationship with bank performance, which implies that as bank

size increases profitability also increases, especially in the case of small and

medium-sized banks. In contrast, Abdelrahim (2013) found a significant strong

negative impact of bank size on the effectiveness of Saudi bank’s credit risk

management. Hence, in view of theory and past studies a positive relationship is

expected between bank size and bank profitability.

The calculation for bank size used in this study is as follows:

𝐵𝐵𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑅𝑅 𝐴𝐴𝐸𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑁𝑁 = 𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑊𝑊𝑇𝑇𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁ℎ𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝐼𝑜𝑜 𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑇𝑇𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴… … … … … … (5)

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Asset Quality (AQ)

Asset quality determines the strength of financial institution against the loss of assets

value (Kwan & Eisenbeis, 1997). It can be measured by calculating the growth of

total loans (Abdelrahim, 2013). Monitoring growth of loan is very important in banks

since they provide earnings to the bank and that decreasing the value of loans often

relates to the risk of solvency to financial institutions (Hassan & Bashir, 2003). The

growth of gross loan also enhances bank profitability unless bank takes on an

unacceptable level of risk (Anbar & Alper, 2011). However, growing value of the

asset in banking is not enough if they are not of food quality, meaning that, the loans

approved and sanctioned by the banks should be good quality loans. Bad quality

loans have high chances of becoming non-performing loan thus creating no return to

the bank.

In this context, Hassan and Bashir (2003) recommends that the quality of asset

depends on the quality of credit assessment, monitoring and collection within the

bank. The quality can be improved by securitizing the loans by collateral, having

adequate provisions for potential losses and avoiding risky lending. Few studies on

the impact of credit risk management on profitability have been undertaken

considering asset quality as control variable. Abdelrahim (2013) found an

insignificant negative impact of asset quality on the effectiveness of credit risk

management. However, taking into account theory, this study hypothesises a positive

relationship between change in asset quality and financial performance of the bank.

The calculation for asset quality (AQ) is given by:

𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸 = 𝐺𝐺𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝐺𝐺𝑁𝑁ℎ 𝐼𝐼𝑜𝑜 𝑊𝑊𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼… … … … … … … … … (6)

Leverage Ratio (LER)

As noted earlier, one of the causes of the global financial crisis is widely believed to

be excessive leverage ratio in the banking system (Board, 2009; Turner, 2009).

Leverage ratio indicates how much debt a bank is using to finance their operations in

relation to the shareholder’s equity value (Reddy & Prasad, 2011). It measures how

much capital in the bank is in the form of debt and assesses the bank’s ability to meet

its financial obligations. Bank relies on a mixture of shareholder’s equity and

liabilities to finance their operations. High leverage ratio shows that a bank is

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aggressive in financing with debt. Aggressive leveraging practices often indicates a

high level of risks as uncontrollable debt indicates too much liabilities to pay off.

Also, high leverage ratio would potentially result in unstable earnings to banks due to

additional interest expense. In this case, shareholders benefit as long as earnings

increases with the same amount of shareholders and their investment. However, if

the cost of debt exceeds returns, it can even lead to bankruptcy, leaving shareholders

without any return. Further high leverage ratio indicates less protection to depositors

and is always risky to them (Reddy & Prasad, 2011). Maintaining leverage ratio in

banking is extremely important as it limits the bank to build up excessive leverage

which could damage the overall financial system and the economy; and strengthen

risk control measures (Miu, Ozdemir, & Giesinger, 2010). The central bank of Nepal

has directed the commercial banks to maintain minimum leverage ratio at 4% (Bank,

2016).

Very few studies investigating the impact of credit risk management on banks

financial performance have used leverage ratio as an indicator of credit risk

management. Alshatti (2015) found a negative effect of leverage ratio on banks

financial performance. Following previous studies, it is hypothesised that a negative

association exist between leverage ratio and bank performance.

The equation for leverage ratio (LER) is:

𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑇𝑇𝑎𝑎𝐸𝐸𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴

𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸… … … … … … … … … (7)

Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPLR)

Among various indicators of credit risk and financial stability, non-performing loan

ratio (NPLR) holds critical importance as an increase in NPLR is regarded as the

failure of credit policy in banks, a reduction in bank’s earnings and a major reason

for the financial crisis (Saba, Kouser, & Azeem, 2012). It is also viewed a measure of

how banks manage their credit assessment as NPLR indicates the proportion of non-

performing loan to total loan portfolio (Hosna, Manzura, & Juanjuan, 2009). A non-

performing loan is often characterized as late payment rather than default loan if the

borrower is still undertaking the loan (Choudhry, 2011). However, once a loan is

non-performing, the chances of it being repaid fully is nominal (Saba et al., 2012).

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The non-performing loan includes all loans overdue on principal or interest payment

or both for more than 90 days (Wahlen, 1994). According to BIS, the standard loan

classification can be defined as (Hou & Dickinson, 2007):

• Passed: Loans which are repaid back.

• Substandard: The loans whose overdue amount are longer than three months.

The banks usually make 10% provision for the overdue portion.

• Doubtful: The loans whose overdue amount appears doubtful and the exact

amount of which cannot be determined. Banks make 50% provision for

doubtful loans.

• Virtual loss and loss (unrecoverable): The outstanding loans provided to

firms which applied for legal resolution and protection under bankruptcy

laws. Banks make 100% provision for unrecoverable loan.

Non-performing loan comprises of substandard, doubtful, and virtual loss and loss,

and are categorized as per their degree of collection difficulty. However, if the

borrower starts making payment again on a non-performing loan, it becomes a re-

performing loan, even though the borrower has not repaid all the unpaid amount.

Due to the importance of non-performing loan in financial institutions, numerous

studies have been conducted on the relationship between non-performing loan and

financial performance and the authors seems to have found mixed results. Among the

studies, Aduda and Gitonga (2011), Li and Zou (2014), Bhattarai (2014), Kaaya and

Pastory (2013), Ndoka and Islami (2016) found an inverse impact of non-performing

loans on the bank profitability while, Afriyie and Akotey (2012), and Alshatti (2015)

found a positive effect of non-performing loans on bank financial performance. On

the other hand, Adeusi et al. (2014), Kithinji (2010), Nawaz (2012), and Ogboi and

Unuafe (2013) could not find a relationship between bank performance and non-

performing loans.

The positive impact of the non-performing loan on financial performance signifies

that even though the borrowers are not paying the loan, profitability is increasing. A

similar result is found by Afriyie and Akotey (2012) who found that the rural banks

in Ghana shift the cost of loan default to other customers by increasing their interest

rate on loans, thus rural banks remained profitable. Despite the mixed results, a

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negative relationship is hypothesised between non-performing loan and bank

profitability.

The equation for Non-performing loan ratio (NPLR) is expressed as:

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅 =𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐶𝐶𝑇𝑇𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑡𝑡 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴 (𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝐴𝐴)

𝐺𝐺𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴… … … … … … … … … (8)

Where,

NPLs=Non-Performing Loans

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

Cash reserve ratio is specified as a percentage of total deposit of customers held with

the central bank. It is one of the monetary policy tool used by the reserve bank to

control money supply in the economy (Abid & Lodhi, 2015). This in turn has a

significant impact on the interest rates, liquidity (Teja, Tejaswi, Madhavi, & Ujwala,

2013) and profitability of the banks (Bhattarai, 2014). When a central bank lowers

CRR, the availability of funds in the bank increases, the interest rate decreases, and

the bank profitability increases with the availability of money for funding generating

more interest earnings. In contrast, when CRR increases, the availability of fund

decreases with the banks, which means that less money to loan out is available

resulting to fewer interest earnings and decline in profitability. The increase and

decrease of CRR will result in non-availability and availability of fund in the banks

denoting liquidity status of the banks. However, CRR itself does not earn any income

for the financial institutions but acts as a hindrance to the profitability of the banks.

The specified regulatory requirement of CRR to be maintained at the central bank of

Nepal has been stated different rate for different types of bank and financial

institutions. As per Nepal Rastra Bank directives 2014/15, the CRR to be maintained

by commercial banks has been fixed at 6% (Bank, 2015b).

Few studies based on the effect of credit risk management on bank performance have

considered CRR as control variable. Bhattarai (2014) has found that cash reserve

ratio has an inverse impact on bank profitability. Therefore, based on the literature

survey a negative relationship between CRR and bank profitability is expected.

The equation for cash reserve ratio (CRR) is given by:

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𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =𝑅𝑅𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑅𝑅𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁 𝐺𝐺𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁ℎ 𝑁𝑁ℎ𝑁𝑁 𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑎𝑎𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑅𝑅

𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑡𝑡𝑁𝑁𝐶𝐶𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝐸𝐸𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴 𝐼𝐼𝑜𝑜 𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴… … … … … … (9)

Coverage Ratio (CR)

Coverage ratio is an important factor in evaluating the bank’s performance as it is

related to the interest income which is the main source of income of the financial

sector, especially the banking sector. It is influenced by factors that affects interest

rates such as the type of assets and liabilities held by the bank as well as monetary

policy changes (Ho & Saunders, 1981). It can be measured by calculating the ratio of

bank’s interest income to total gross loans. Coverage ratio (CR) though not

previously used by other studies is hypothesized to be positively related to ROA as

knowing that CR increases if interest income is increasing more than the increases in

loans.

The equation for coverage ratio (CR) is given by:

𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅 =𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁 𝐸𝐸𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑊𝑊𝑁𝑁 𝑊𝑊𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴

… … … … … … … … … . (10)

Female Board Member (FBM)

Board members play a vital role in the governance of bank from appointing and

supervising top managers (Wachudi & Mboya, 2012) to manage risk-reward profile,

monitor financials of the bank, establish credit facilities etc. (Charkham, 2003). The

gender of top executive and board members has been one of the focused areas from

last decade. In most countries, the proportion of women reaching the top position in

firms is still very low. Many European countries have already introduced regulations

for a minimum required female percentage on boards for public trading companies

(Smith, Smith, & Verner, 2006), Norway being the first to quote the requirement of

at least 40% females for such companies by 2008 (Hoel, 2008).

Despite the commonly held view that females are more risk averse than male, a

number of studies conducted on women in top management and performance of firm

have shown mixed results. Smith et al. (2006) found that women in top management

have positive effect on firm performance depending on the qualification of women in

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top position. While, Carter, D'Souza, Simkins, and Simpson (2010) and Wachudi and

Mboya (2012) found an insignificant relationship between gender diversity of the

board and financial performance. García-Meca, García-Sánchez, and Martínez-

Ferrero (2015) found that gender diversity enhances bank performance.

This variable is introduced in this study as none of the previous Nepalese studies

have used female board member as an indicator of credit risk management in

determining the relationship between credit risk management and bank profitability.

On the basis of review of literature, a positive association between female board

member and bank profitability is expected.

The female board member (FBM) variable is defined as:

𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹 = 𝑇𝑇𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝐼𝐼𝑜𝑜 𝑜𝑜𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑁𝑁 𝑎𝑎𝐼𝐼𝑇𝑇𝑁𝑁𝑡𝑡 𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁… … … … … … … … … (11)

In summary, this study will include CAR, LR, BS, AQ, LER, NPLR, CRR, CR, and

FBM as variables of credit risk management. These indicators will measure the

effectiveness of managing credit risk by commercial banks. CAR, LR, BS, AQ, LER,

NPLR and CRR have been used in previous empirical studies as important variables

for credit risk management. CR and FBM are the additional variables introduced in

this study.

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Chapter 3 Method and Data Description

This chapter discuss the models and methods used to ascertain the relationship between bank management and the accounting performance of commercial banks of Nepal. The data and data description are also presented and discussed. The chapter ends with the descriptive statistics of the various variables included in the study.

3.0 Model Specification

Chapter 2 presents various studies on bank risk management and financial

performance in developed and developing countries. Factors that influence the

banks’ performance were identified and as a consequence, this study specifies the

following models:

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼0 + 𝛼𝛼1𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼2𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼3𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼4𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼5𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼6𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +

𝛼𝛼7𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼8𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼9𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝜇𝜇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 … … … … … … … … … … … … …(12)

And,

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼0 + 𝛼𝛼1𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼2𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼3𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼4𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼5𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼6𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +

𝛼𝛼7𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼8𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼9𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝜇𝜇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 … … … … … … … … … … … … …(13)

Where

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Return on Assets of bank i in the year t

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Return on Equity of bank i in the year t

𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Capital Adequacy Ratio of bank i in the year t

𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Liquidity Ratio of bank i in the year t

𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Bank Size of bank i in the year t

𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Asset Quality of bank i in the year t

𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Leverage Ratio of bank i in the year t

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖= Non-Performing Loan Ratio of bank i in the year t

𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Cash Reserve Ratio of bank i in the year t

𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Coverage Ratio of bank i in the year t

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𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = Number of Female Board Member of bank i in the year t

αn = intercept term

𝜇𝜇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = error term

The variables ROA and ROE represent bank profitability of Nepalese commercial

banks. Similarly, the variables CAR, LR, BS, AQ, LER, NPLR, CRR, CR and FBM

represent credit risk management of Nepalese commercial banks. Like previous

studies, it is hypothesised that the variables representing credit risk management will

have an effect on the bank profitability as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Summary of Expected Relationship with Bank Profitability

Abbreviation variables

Description Measurement Expected sign

CR Coverage Ratio Interest income on loans/Average gross loans

+

CAR Capital Adequacy Ratio

Capital/Risk-weighted assets

+

LR Liquidity Ratio Loan/Total deposit - BS Bank Size Natural logarithm of total

assets +

AQ Asset Quality Growth of gross loans + LER Leverage Ratio Total liabilities/Total

common equity -

NPLR Non-Performing Loan Ratio

Impaired loans (NPLs)/Gross loans

-

CRR Cash Reserve Ratio

Reserves requirement with the central bank/ Total deposits of customers

-

FBM Female Board Member

Number of female board member

+

Unlike previous studies, this study includes female board member (FBM) and

coverage ratio (CR) as introductory variables. The theoretical literature shows the

importance of decision of women as board members in firms regarding various

countries. In this study, FBM has been included to measure the significance and the

effect of women in board member in Nepalese bank profitability. Likewise, CR has

been included to measure the significance and its effect of changes in CR on

Nepalese bank profitability.

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3.1 Method of Analysis

The study uses following method of analysis to examine the relationship between

credit risk management and bank profitability of Nepalese commercial banks:

1. Pooled Regression Analysis

2. Panel Data Analysis

2a. Fixed Effect Model

2b. Random Effect Model

3.1.1 Pooled Regression Analysis

Pooled regression analysis is used to establish the functional relationship between

two or more independent variables and a given dependent variable. It calculates the

value of coefficient of correlation interpreted as the fraction of the sample. Most

importantly, pooled regression analysis will reveal which of the factors specified are

important in explaining financial performance. To run pooled regression analysis

however, a stationary balanced series is required. Further, the major short coming

with this model is that it does not distinguish between the banks. In other words, it

denies the heterogeneity or individuality that may exist among the banks. The models

specified in the previous chapter for pooled regression analysis are as follows:

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼0 + 𝛼𝛼1𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼2𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼3𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼4𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼5𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼6𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +

𝛼𝛼7𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼8𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼9𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝜇𝜇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 … … … … … … … … … … … … (12)

And,

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼0 + 𝛼𝛼1𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼2𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼3𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼4𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼5𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼6𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝐿𝐿𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +

𝛼𝛼7𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼8𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝛼𝛼9𝐹𝐹𝐵𝐵𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝜇𝜇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 … … … … … … … … … … … … (13)

3.1.2 Panel Data Analysis

The information for this study were collected from 28 commercial banks of Nepal

between the period 2011 and 2015. Since the data contains information on cross-

sectional units observed across time, this study also adopts a panel data estimation

technique. Hsiao (2014) describes panel data analysis as the statistical method to

analyze a given sample of individuals over time providing multiple observations on

each individual in the sample. It is an analysis of data containing two dimensions that

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of cross-sectional and longitudinal. Panel data method allows analysis of a number of

important economic factors that cannot be measured or observed such as difference

in banking practices among banks (Torres-Reyna, 2007). It takes care of an

unobserved heterogeneity associated with individual banks thus allowing for

individual specific variables.

Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) describes the benefits of using panel data as (i) provision

of informative data, (ii) more variability, (iii) less collinearity, (iv) more degrees of

freedom, and (v) more efficient estimates. Further, it is argued that the method also

allows the study of individual dynamics and gives information on time ordering

events. Additionally, Hsiao (2014) identifies advantages of panel data analysis over

cross-sectional study and time-series study as its capacity for accurate prediction of

individual outcomes, accurate inference for model parameters, greater capacity for

constructing realistic behavioural hypotheses and its computational simplicity. There

are studies that have used panel data method in their analysis of different banks such

as that of Adeusi et al. (2014), Afriyie and Akotey (2012), Alshatti (2015), and

Ogboi and Unuafe (2013).

The models for panel data analysis can be expressed as,

3.1.2a Fixed Effect Model

Fixed effect model is used to analyze panel data if the objective is to analyze the

impact of variables that vary over time (Torres-Reyna, 2007). In this model

specification, the parameters are fixed or of non-random quantities. It removes the

effect of time-invariant characteristic allowing for the analysis of net effect of the

variables on the outcome (Torres-Reyna, 2007). Allison (2009) pointed out that, “In

fixed effect model, the unobserved variables are allowed to have associations with

the observed variables.”

The fixed effect model allows for heterogeneity or individuality among banks by

allowing each bank to have its own intercept value. In this model, although the

intercept may differ across banks, it does not vary over time that is it is time

invariant.

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3.1.2b Random Effect Model

The random effect model is also used to analyze panel data and is often used when

the variations across entities are assumed to be random and uncorrelated with the

independent variables (Torres-Reyna, 2007). It is based on the assumption that the

difference between entities has some influence on the dependent variable (Torres-

Reyna, 2007). It also assumes that the entity’s error term is not correlated with the

predictors which allow time-invariant variables as explanatory variables (Torres-

Reyna, 2007). Hence, in this method, individual characteristics needs to be specified

which may or may not influence the predictor variables. An advantage of random

effect model is that it includes time-invariant variable such as gender while in fixed

effect such time-invariant variable is absorbed by the intercept (Torres-Reyna, 2007).

To determine as to which model (fixed effect model and random effect model) best

describes the relationship, a Hausman test was carried out to choose between two

models using STATA (Statistical data analysis software) at five percent level of

significance. The Hausman test evaluates the null hypothesis that the coefficient

estimated by the random effect estimator is same as estimated by fixed effect

estimator (Afriyie & Akotey, 2012). Specifically, the null hypothesis is that the

preferred model is random effects vs the alternative fixed effects (Greene, 2008).

Following from the Hausman test, if the p-value is less than α=0.05 the fixed effect

model is better than the random effect.

3.2 Data and Data Description

3.2.1 Data and sources of data

Data used for this study were obtained from the audited annual reports and Fitch

connect for all sample banks for the year 2011 to 2015. There were only 28

commercial banks included in the study. Some of the banks were not included

because of the lack of vital information needed to do the analysis. The selected 28

commercial banks of Nepal are the total number of commercial banks operating in

the country in 2017 although there were 30 commercial banks in 2015, the number of

banks differs in different years due to acquisition and merger. The commercial banks

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included in the study is based on the year 2017 data because it was difficult to obtain

information on banks that have already been merged.

The selected 28 sample banks includes: Agriculture Development Bank Limited,

Bank of Kathmandu Lumbini Limited, Century Bank Limited, Citizens Bank

International Limited, Civil Bank Limited, Everest Bank Limited, Global IME Bank

Limited, Himalayan Bank Limited, Janata Bank Nepal Limited, Kumari Bank

Limited, Laxmi Bank Limited, Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited, Mega Bank Nepal

Limited, Nabil Bank Limited, Nepal Bangladesh Bank Limited, Nepal Bank Limited,

Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank Limited, Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Nepal

SBI Bank Limited, NIC Asia Bank Limited, NMB Bank Nepal Limited, Prabhu

Bank Limited, Prime Commercial Bank Limited, Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited,

Sanima Bank Limited, Siddhartha Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal

Limited, and Sunrise Bank Limited. All of these commercial banks are “A” class

commercial banks of Nepal and are listed in the Nepalese Stock Exchange. The

overall observation for all years for all banks adds up to 138.

3.2.2 Data collection

The variables included in the study were based on return on asset, return on equity,

capital adequacy ratio, liquidity ratio, bank size, asset quality, leverage ratio, non-

performing loan ratio, cash reserve ratio, coverage ratio, and female board member.

The description and calculation for each of these variables were presented in Chapter

two theoretical framework. Fitch connects and audited annual report for the financial

year 2011 to 2015 of all sample banks were accessed via Fitch connects and data

stream. Fitch connect is a world-class platform from Fitch solutions which offers

fundamental data, proprietary research, credit ratings, and analytics of the banking

sector. Fitch solutions are part of Fitch group, which is a global leader in financial

information services operating in more than 30 countries. Few variables such as cash

reserve ratio and female board member were sourced through audited annual reports

of all sample banks that are available online.

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3.2.3 Time horizon

Suanders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2009) have distinguished time horizon in two

categories depending on whether the research is to be done at a particular point of

time known as a cross-sectional study or extended period known as a longitudinal

study. Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are observational studies.

The Cross-sectional study examines different population group at a single point of

time (Health, 2015). It is mostly employed in studies based on interviews conducted

over a short time period using qualitative method (Suanders et al., 2009).

Longitudinal study, on the other hand, examines several observations of the same

population group over a period of time, which may last many years (Health, 2015).

Hence, under longitudinal study, it is necessary to collect data for at least two periods

for the same variable on the same population group.

As stated earlier, Nepalese commercial banks have faced difficulties over the past

years for many reasons including relaxed credit standard, identified by many as the

major reason. Also, most recently some policies have been reformed to improve

credit standard of Nepalese commercial banks. Hence, the aim here is also to detect

changes and development, by including data after implementation of policies that

improved credit standard. Taking all of these into account, the study include data

over the financial period of 5 years that is from 2011 to 2015.

3.3 Descriptive Statistics

Table 3 presents the descriptive statistics of the variables included in the study of the

28 commercial banks on Nepal from 2011 to 2015 (5 years’ period) of 138

observations.

Table 3 shows that the average value for bank’s profitability as measured by ROA is

1.46%, indicating that during the period of 2011-2015, the total assets of commercial

banks generated 1.46% return. Further, the average value for ROE is 14.72%,

indicating that during the period of 2011-2015, the equity of commercial banks

generated 14.72% return. The minimum capital adequacy ratio is -10.15%, which is

very low as the regulatory requirement of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) directives 2015

is 10%. However, the average CAR is 12.46%, which is greater than the regulatory

requirement of NRB.

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Table 3: Descriptive Statistics

Variables N Mean Std. Dev. Min. Max. ROA 138 1.46 0.90 -1.37 4.41 ROE 138 14.72 14.90 -37.88 102.37 CR 138 11.14 2.85 0 16.28 CAR 138 12.46 6.01 -10.15 41.82 LR 138 78.62 12.40 46.08 117.38 BS 138 24.23 0.70 21.7 25.66 AQ 138 28.90 49.89 -18.39 489.2 LER 138 6.73 30.94 -339.65 70.34 NPLR 138 2.23 2.89 0 24.29 CRR 138 15.77 8.14 4 36.65 FBM 138 0.29 0.55 0 2

Where

N = Number of observations

ROA = Return on Assets

ROE = Return on Equity

CR = Coverage Ratio

CAR = Capital Adequacy Ratio

LR = Liquidity Ratio

BS = Bank Size

AQ = Asset Quality

LER = Leverage Ratio

NPLR = Non-Performing Loan Ratio

CRR = Cash Reserve Ratio

FBM = Female Board Member The minimum cash reserve ratio is 4%, which is lower than regulatory requirement

of 6%. This can be taken as non-compliance of maintaining CRR by commercial

banks as regulated by Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB’s) Unified 2015. The average non-

performing loan ratio during the period of 2011-2015 is 2.23%. The column of

standard deviation denotes how much the variable deviates from the mean. Here,

ROA, BS, and FBM have least standard deviation, while AQ and LER have high

standard deviation. The higher the standard deviation, the higher the variability of

that factor.

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Chapter 4 Discussion of Results

This chapter presents the empirical findings of the study. The chapter starts with a short introduction, followed by the stationarity tests results and then the discussion of the pooled regression analysis and ends with results of the panel data analysis.

4.0 Introduction

Following from the discussion of the method and data description presented in

chapter 3, secondary data for all the variables included in the study were collected for

the period 2011 to 2015 for the 28 commercial banks of Nepal. Descriptive statistics

and unit root tests were then calculated first to ascertain the nature of the dataset.

Pooled regression analysis and panel data analysis were also carried out to test the

various hypotheses set for this study. Results of the various tests are discussed in the

succeeding sections.

4.1 Stationarity Test

The descriptive statistics were tabled and discussed in chapter 3 while results of the

stationarity tests are presented are discussed in this section. It is often recommended

that prior to running a time series analysis, a stationarity test be conducted for each

of the series included in the study. This is done in order to avoid spurious regression.

Spurious regression refers to the regression that tends to accept a false relation or

reject a true relation by flawed regression schemes (Chiarella & Gao, 2002).

A series is said to be stationary if the joint probability of the time series does not

change over time, meaning that the variance remains constant over time and that the

series has no trend (Jeffrey, 2009). Likewise, a series is said to be stationary if a shift

in time does not cause a change in shape of its distribution (Andale, 2017). However,

as in the case of most economic and financial series, the presence of trends results to

a series being non-stationary. The trend could be a deterministic trend describe as

shocks having transitory effects or a stochastic trend or unit-root that is shocks

having permanent effects (Jeffrey, 2009). Since the data set is an unbalanced panel

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data set, the Fisher unit root test was carried out to ascertain whether a given series is

stationary or not. The Fisher type unit root test works well with an unbalanced panel.

The Fisher tests were calculated in STATA (Statistical data analysis software). The

test specifies the null hypothesis that the variable is non-stationarity (presence of

unit-root) and the alternative hypothesis that it is stationary. The Fisher unit root tests

result show that all variables included in the study are stationary. The calculated p-

value for all variables are smaller than 0.01, the null hypothesis was rejected at 1%

level of statistical significance.

4.2 Pooled Regression Analysis

Once the variables were verified to be stationary, equation (12) and (13) were

calculated using pooled regression data analysis. The results are presented in Table 4.

Table 4: Results of pooled regression analysis

Independent Variables Dependent Variables ROA ROE

CRit 0.0878 (0.000)***

-0.3405 (0.407)

CARit 0.0356 (0.018)**

-0.1643 (0.524)

LRit -0.0049 (0.459)

0.1524 (0.190)

BSit 0.7134 (0.000)***

12.6600 (0.000)***

AQit -0.0013 (0.362)

0.0190 (0.441)

LERit -0.0044 (0.039)**

0.0408 (0.270)

NPLRit -0.0575 (0.016)**

-0.4989 (0.225)

CRRit 0.0070 (0.392)

-0.0409 (0.773)

FBMit 0.0191 (0.872)

-4.2119 (0.042)**

Constant -16.7738 (0.000)***

-296.023 (0.000)***

F-statistic 0.000 0.000 R2 0.3691 0.3034 Adjusted R2 0.3247 0.2544

***, ** and * significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively.

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The results will be discussed in turn starting first with ROA and then followed by

ROE.

4.2.1 Determinants of ROA

This section presents the findings of the pooled regression analysis using ROA as the

dependent variable.

Coverage Ratio (CR)

Coverage ratio (CR) measures the bank’s interest income on total gross loans. It is an

important factor in evaluating the bank’s performance as interest income is the main

source of income of the financial sector specially the banking sector. Coverage ratio

in turn influence by factors that affects interest rates such as the type of assets and

liabilities held by the bank as well as monetary policy changes. CR though not

previously used by other studies is hypothesized to be positively related to ROA as

interest income from loans increases, CR increases if interest income is increasing

more than the increases in loans.

Table 4 reveals that coverage ratio has a positive relationship with return on asset.

When all other factors are held constant, an increase in 1 percent of coverage ratio

leads to an increase in ROA by 0.0878 percent. The result further indicate that CR is

statistically significant at 1 percent level of significance, meaning that CR is a very

important variable affecting financial profitability of Nepalese commercial banks.

The positive relationship between coverage ratio and return on asset shows that when

the bank’s interest income increases, the bank’s return on asset also increases. This

implies that Nepalese commercial banks have effective measure to deal with credit

risk management.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)

Capital adequacy ratio determines the capacity of banks to meet possible losses. It

shows the bank’s financial strength in utilizing its capital and assets. Banks with

strong CAR tends to absorb possible loan losses and thus preventing them from

failing or be insolvent. This study hypothesized that CAR and ROA are positively

related to each other. However, various studies reviewed that used CAR in their

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analysis have mixed results. The results of this study though show that CAR is

positively related to ROA of Nepalese commercial banks and is found to be

significant at 5% level of significance. Further it shows that 1 percent increase in

CAR holding, all given other factors held constant, will increase ROA by 0.0356

percent. The positive relationship between CAR and bank profitability is consistent

with the findings of Abdelrahim (2013); Afriyie and Akotey (2012); Bhattarai

(2014); Kurawa and Garba (2014); and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) who also found a

positive relationship between CAR and bank profitability. However, this contradicts

with the findings of Alshatti (2015); Poudel (2012); Zou and Li (2014); and Ndoka

and Islami (2016) who found negative linkage between CAR and bank profitability.

Liquidity Ratio (LR)

Liquidity ratio (LR) refers to the ability of banks to convert assets into cash at a

reasonable cost in the short term to meet its financial obligations. In other words, it

measures the bank’s ability to fund all short-term obligations when they fall due. As

the motive of commercial banks is to enhance profitability, they are supposed to

maintain their liquidity ratio accordingly that is not too high whereby the bank is not

utilizing its fund efficiently nor too low, whereby the bank cannot pay off its short-

term obligations. Previous studies and theory of liquidity ratio indicate that a

negative association between CAR and bank profitability could be expected.

Table 4 reveals that an insignificant negative relationship exist between LR and

ROA. This is in accordance with theory. This result denotes that LR does not

significantly affect ROA of commercial banks in Nepal. This finding is also

consistent with the findings of Adeusi et. al. (2014) and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013)

who also found a negative impact of LR on bank financial performance. It however

contradicts with the result of Abdelrahim (2013) who found a positive impact of LR

on bank performance.

Bank Size (BS)

As indicated earlier, bank size as measured by the log of total assets shows the size

of the financial institution. The current results reveal that BS is positively and

statistically significant at 1 percent level of significance with ROA. The outcome

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further indicates that as bank size increases, profitability increases. In the banking

sector, larger banks are likely to be active in the market, have a greater product and

have better possibilities in the diversification of risks. As larger banks do not operate

in a very competitive market, they also tend to make efficiency gains.

The findings in this study is similar to the findings of Bhattarai (2014) who studied

the effect of credit risk on bank performance in the context of Nepalese commercial

banks. However, it is contrary to that of Abdelrahim (2013) who found a negative

impact of bank size on the effectiveness of credit risk management.

Asset Quality (AQ)

The result from Table 4 indicates that an insignificant negative relationship exists

between asset quality and return on asset indicating that asset quality does not

significantly affect the return of asset of Nepalese commercial banks. Assets quality

is measured by growth of total loans. It is used to determine the strength of financial

institution against loss of assets value. Asset quality is very important to all the profit

motive banks as it provides earning to the banks. As discussed in chapter 2, the

growth of gross loans may not be adequate for profitability if they are not good

quality loans. Bad quality loans will not generate earnings to the banks and that an

increase in the value of bad quality loans can lead banks to solvency. The negative

sign may imply that Nepalese commercial banks are not issuing good quality loans.

Therefore, when the amount of loan increases, the return on asset decreases.

Leverage Ratio (LR)

The leverage ratio is measured by total liabilities to total common equity. It analyses

the degree of leverage of a bank indicating the ratio of debt a bank uses to finance its

operations to its shareholders’ equity. In the banking system, a very high and a very

low financial leverage is undesirable. High leverage ratio indicates that bank is

aggressive in financing its operations with debt which may generate additional

interest expenses, and in the worst scenario, may also lead to bankruptcy. Very low

financial leverage may also mark a question on bank’s profitability and its reluctance

in accepting deposits. Bank profitability and leverage ratio is assumed to have a

negative relationship based on theory and previous empirical studies.

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From Table 4, the result indicates a negative and statistically significant relationship

between leverage ratio and ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. The result shows

that 1 percent increase in leverage ratio leads to a decrease in ROA by 0.0044

percent holding all other factors constant. The sign confirms with theoretical

expectations and the finding of Alshatti (2015) who also found a negative effect of

leverage ratio on banks financial performance. Hence, banks are advised not to be

enormously financed by debt as high financial leverage will increase liabilities and

interest expenses affecting their financial performance. Likewise, they need to

manage debt to the level where they can achieve relatively high profit providing

higher returns to owners. The result is also consistent with the findings of Alshatti

(2015) who found a negative effect of leverage ratio on bank performance.

Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPLR)

NPLR is the most important factor in managing credit risk and financial stability of

banks. It is the measure of non-performing loans to total loans of a bank. The initial

stage of non-performing loan starts with late payment of principal and interest.

However, the loan is only categorized as a non-performing loan if the loan is not paid

in more than 90 days otherwise it is considered as a default loan. In many cases,

there is a small chance that full payment of non-performing loans will be made.

Thus, NPLR is hypothesized to have an inverse relationship with bank profitability.

The result on Table 4 also indicates that NPLR has a negative impact on ROA and is

statistically significant at 5 percent level of significance. This means that NPLR

impacts ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. It also follows that when NPLR

decreases, return on asset of Nepalese commercial banks increases.

The result is similar to those of Aduda and Gitonga (2011), Li and Zou (2014),

Bhattarai (2014), Kaaya and Pastory (2013) as well as Ndoka and Islami (2016) who

all found negative effect of NPLR on bank performance. However, it is contrary to

that of Alshatti (2015) and Afriyie and Akotey (2012) who found positive influence

of NPLR on bank profitability. From the analysis reported here, it shows that when

all other factors are held constant, an increase in 1 percent of NPLR leads to

reduction in ROA by 0.0575 percent. In summary, the study found that higher the

NPLR, the lower the profitability of the commercial banks of Nepal.

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Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

CRR denotes the portion of total deposits held by the central bank as reserves for all

the banks and financial institutions. As mentioned in chapter 2, it is used as a tool to

control money supply in the economy which in turn has significant influence on the

liquidity, change in interest rates and profitability of the banks.

The CRR is hypothesized to have a negative relationship with the financial

performance of the banks based on literature review of previous empirical studies.

From Table 4, the result indicates a positive and statistically insignificant

relationship between cash reserve ratio and ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. The

result further indicates that cash reserve ratio does not affect the ROA of commercial

bank of Nepal which is contrary to most previous studies. Though the result is not

significant, it is similar to the findings of Bhattarai (2014).

Female Board Member (FBM)

The gender of board member and senior executive has remained an important issue

in the organizations. Many developing nations claim to have a few female members

on the top positions. However, many countries in Europe have provisions of

maintaining minimum required female board members (FBM) for public trading

companies. FBM variable was not previously used by other studies particularly in

examining the relationship between credit risk management and bank profitability. It

is hypothesized to have a positive impact on financial profitability of banks. The

result shown in Table 4 indicates a positive but statistically insignificant relationship,

meaning that female board member does not impact ROA of Nepalese commercial

banks. The positive sign however denotes that when the number of female board

member increases, the profitability of bank also increases. A thorough investigation

of the data show that only a small number of banks have female board members.

This might explain the insignificant result.

In summary, the variables CR, CAR, BS, LER, and NPLR are statistically significant

with ROA of Nepalese commercial banks. CR, CAR, and BS all positively affect

ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. The variables LER and NPLR negatively affect

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ROA of Nepalese commercial banks. While, LR, AQ, CRR, and FBM are found not

to have an influence on Nepalese commercial banks’ profitability.

4.2.2 Determinants of ROE

The results of the pooled regression analysis on ROE will be presented and discussed

in the succeeding section.

Coverage Ratio (CR)

As indicated earlier, CR is a variable introduced in this study. It is hypothesized that

CR is positively related to bank’s profitability. Table 4 indicate that CR will have an

insignificant negative impact on ROE which is contrary to the prior assumption. The

result implies that CR does not significantly affect return on equity of Nepalese

commercial banks.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)

Capital adequacy ratio has been used in many studies as a control variable and is

expected to have a positive impact on bank profitability. The result on Table 4 shows

an insignificant negative relationship between CAR and ROE which is again contrary

to expectation but is consistent with the findings of Alshatti (2015); Poudel (2012);

Zou and Li (2014); and Ndoka and Islami (2016) also found negative relationship

between CAR and bank performance. This result is however contrary to the findings

of Abdelrahim (2013); Afriyie and Akotey (2012); Bhattarai (2014); Kurawa and

Garba (2014); and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) who all found a positive relationship

between CAR and bank performance.

The findings indicate that CAR does not significantly influence ROE of Nepalese

commercial banks.

Liquidity Ratio (LR)

From the literature review in chapter 2, liquidity ratio (LR) has been used as an

independent variable assuming a negative impact of LR on bank profitability. The

result on Table 4 indicates that LR is statistically insignificant and have a positive

relationship with ROE. This result is contrary to prior assumption but is similar to the

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findings of Abdelrahim (2013). However, the result is inconsistent with the findings

of Adeusi et. al. (2014) and Ogboi and Unuafe (2013) who all found a negative effect

of LR on bank financial performance. The outcome however denotes that LR is not a

significant predictor of ROE for Nepalese commercial banks.

Bank Size (BS)

Bank size (BS) is assumed to have a positive relationship with bank profitability.

From Table 4, the result shows that BS has a positive coefficient and statistically

significant at 1 percent level of significance. This implies that BS affects the

performance of commercial banks of Nepal. Keeping all other variables constant, an

increase in 1 percent of BS leads to increase in ROE by 0.1266 percent.

The result is consistent with the findings of Bhattarai (2014) who also found a

positive association between BS and bank performance. But is contrary to the

findings of Abdelrahim (2013) who found a negative impact of BS on the

effectiveness of Saudi bank’s credit risk management.

Further it indicates that larger Nepalese commercial banks have better performance

compared to smaller banks. The reason for such result may be that larger banks tend

to have greater products and have more possibilities for loan diversification resulting

in better performance.

Asset Quality (AQ)

Following the discussion in chapter 2, AQ is used here as a control variable. It is

further hypothesized that AQ have a positive relationship with bank profitability. The

result presented on Table 4 indicates that AQ has an insignificant positive

relationship with ROE. This denotes that AQ does not significantly affect ROE of

Nepalese commercial banks. The positive sign is what is expected but is contrary to

the finding of Abdelrahim (2013) who found a negative impact of AQ on the

effectiveness of Saudi bank’s credit risk management. The positive sign indicates

that Nepalese commercial banks have good credit assessment implying that when

gross loan increases, profitability also rises simultaneously.

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Leverage Ratio (LER)

LER is hypothesized to have a negative relationship with bank profitability. Contrary

to the hypothesized relationship, the result on Table 4 indicates that LER has an

insignificant positive relationship with ROA of Nepalese commercial banks. This

means that LER does not significantly impact Nepalese commercial bank’s ROE.

This result is in contrast to the finding of Alshatti (2015) who found a negative effect

of leverage ratio on banks financial performance.

Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPLR)

As the importance of NPLR has already been discussed previously, it is hypothesized

to have a negative relationship with bank profitability. The result on Table 4

indicates that NPLR has a negative but statistically insignificant relationship with

ROE. This means that NPLR does not influence ROE of commercial banks in Nepal.

The negative result is similar to the assumption and the findings of Aduda and

Gitonga (2011), Li and Zou (2014), Bhattarai (2014), Kaaya and Pastory (2013), and

Ndoka and Islami (2016) who also found negative relationship between NPLR and

bank profitability. However, it is contrary to the findings of Alshatti (2015) and

Afriyie and Akotey (2012) who found a positive effect of NPLR on bank

profitability. Further the result implies that increase in bad loans negatively affect the

bank’s financial performance resulting in lower profitability. This evidences that

Nepalese commercial banks have a good measure to deal with credit risk

management.

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

CRR is hypothesized to have a negative relationship with bank financial

performance. The result of pooled data analysis on Table 4 indicates that CRR has a

negative and statistically insignificant relationship with ROE of Nepalese

commercial banks. The result is similar to finding of Bhattarai (2014) who concluded

that CRR has an inverse impact on bank profitability. However, it shows that CRR

does not significantly influence the ROE of commercial banks of Nepal.

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This shows that, when the regulatory requirement of CRR increases, banks have

lesser money to loan out, hence proportionately lowering the investment amount,

interest income and its profitability.

Female Board Member (FBM)

FBM has been introduced for the first time in this study. A positive relationship with

bank profitability is expected based on studies pertaining to other sectors. However,

the result on Table 4 shows although FBM is statistically significant at 5 percent

level of significance, it has a negative relationship with the ROE of commercial

banks of Nepal. This indicates that FBM significantly influences ROE of Nepalese

commercial banks but contrary to the prior hypothesis. Keeping all other factors

constant, an increase in FBM by 1 person leads to fall in ROE by 4.211 percent. The

possible rationale for the finding is the lack of possible female board members in the

majority of Nepalese commercial banks as can be seen in Table 3 (descriptive

statistics) which shows that the number of female board members ranges from 0-2.

This is extremely very low in proportion to the number of male board members. The

other possible reason could be the inactiveness of female board members in major

decision making. Thus, the negative result may be explained by these factors.

In short, the variables BS and FBM are statistically significant with the ROE of

Nepalese commercial banks. On the other hand, variables CR, CAR, LR, AQ, LER,

NPLR and CRR does not significantly influence ROE of Nepalese commercial

banks.

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4.3 Diagnostic Tests

Table 5: Post Estimation Diagnostic Tests

ROA ROE Breush-Pagan/ Heteroskedasticity Test

0.7981

0.000

Ramsay RESET Test 0.8018 0.0037 VIF

CR 1.13 1.13 CAR 1.98 1.98 LR 1.70 1.70 BS 1.73 1.73 AQ 1.25 1.25

LER 1.07 1.07 NPLR 1.16 1.16 CRR 1.10 1.10 FBM 1.09 1.09

AIC 319.9299 1106.386 BIC 349.2024 1135.658

***, ** and * significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively

4.4 Model Fit

The results of the pooled regression analysis indicate the existence of a relationship

between some of independent variables and the dependent variables of ROE and

ROA included in this study. The result shows that credit risk management influences

the profitability of Nepalese commercial banks. The result of F-statistic on Table 4

signifies that both models are statistically significant at 1% level of significance with

the corresponding probability value 0.0000 for both ROA and ROE.

The R-square shows how well the regression model fits the data. The higher the R-

square, the closer the estimated regression fits the data. From the result on Table 4, it

implies that 37% of the variation in ROA is explained by the nine (9) explanatory

variables while only 30% of the changes in ROE can be explained by them.

The Adjusted R2 are listed in Table 4 indicating a 0.32 for ROA and 0.25 for ROE.

Model with a higher value of adjusted R-squared is considered to be a better model.

Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are

two measures for comparing maximum likelihood models. When two models fit on

the same data, the model with the smaller value of the information criterion is

considered to be better model. From Table 5, the values of AIC and BIC for ROA are

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349.20 and 319.92 respectively. Likewise, the values of AIC and BIC for ROE are

1135.65 and 1106.38 respectively.

Table 5 further shows that both models do not have problems of multi collinearity as

the variance inflation factor (VIF) are all less than 10. Further, the results reveals that

the ROA model does not suffer from heteroscedasticity and have no omitted variable.

On the other hand, the ROE model suffers from heteroscedasticity (the variance of

the error term is not constant) and have problem of omitted variables.

To conclude, the results of pooled regression analysis show that the selected data is

better fitted on the ROA model. The relationship of CR, CAR, BS, LER, and NPLR

are statistically significant with ROA. Although the ROA model fits the data better,

some variables such as BS and FBM are only statistically significant using the ROE

model.

4.5 Results of Panel Data Analysis

Following the discussion of panel data analysis in chapter three, this section presents

the results for ROA and ROE in determining the impact of credit risk management

on the profitability of commercial banks of Nepal for the period 2011 to 2015.

4.5.1 Panel data analysis on ROA

The results of the panel data analysis on ROA is presented in Table 6 and discussed

in the succeeding sections.

As discussed earlier, the Hausman test is carried out to choose between fixed effect

model and random effect model. The details of this test was discussed in chapter

three. Since the calculated p value of 0.0168 is less than 0.05, it implies that a fixed

effect model is a better model compared to the random effect model. The fixed effect

model allows for heterogeneity or individuality among 28 banks by allowing each of

the bank to have their own intercept value. The term fixed effect refers to the fact

that although the intercept may differ across individual banks, it does not vary over

time. That is, it is time invariant.

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Table 6: Results of panel data analysis on ROA

Variable FE Model RE Model CR 0.0986

(0.000)*** 0.0972

(0.000)*** CAR 0.0347

(0.023)** 0.0348

(0.013)** LR -0.0095

(0.360) -0.0058 (0.438)

BS 0.5216 (0.003)***

0.6533 (0.000)***

AQ -0.0002 (0.823)

-0.0005 (0.648)

LER -0.0018 (0.302)

-0.0025 (0.151)

NPLR -0.1107 (0.000)***

-0.0911 (0.000)***

CRR -0.0117 (0.432)

0.0005 (0.957)

FBM -0.1432 (0.415)

-0.0173 (0.899)

Constant -11.4563 (0.015)**

-15.1909 (0.000)***

F-Statistic 0.0000 R2 0.7058 Adjusted R2 0.6009 Hausman Test Prob>Chi2 = 0.0168

***, ** and * significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively.

Coverage Ratio (CR)

As stated in chapter 3, coverage ratio is hypothesized to have a positive relationship

with bank profitability. The result on Table 6 indicates that CR is positive and

statistically significant at 1 percent level of significance which means that CR is a

very important variable affecting the ROA of Nepalese commercial banks. The

positive sign is what is expected and results mean that 1 percent increase in CR leads

to 0.0986 percent increase in ROA.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)

In this study, CAR is used as an independent variable as is hypothesized to have a

positive relationship with bank profitability. The result on Table 6 shows that CAR is

positive and statistically significant at 5 percent level of significance which is what is

hypothesized. It indicates that CAR is also an important variable affecting ROA of

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commercial banks of Nepal. Keeping all the other factors constant, 1 percent increase

in CAR leads to an increase in ROA by 0.0347 percent.

Liquidity Ratio (LR)

LR is hypothesized to have a negative relationship with bank profitability in most of

the theoretical literature. The result on Table 6 shows similar result indicating that

LR is negative but insignificant with ROA.

Bank Size (BS)

From the theoretical literature BS is hypothesized to have a positive relationship with

bank profitability. The result on Table 6 shows that BS is positive and statistically

significant at 1 percent level of significance indicating that BS is very important

variable affecting the ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. Specifically, if all the

other factors are held constant, 1 percent increase in BS leads ROA to increase by

0.5216 percent.

Asset Quality (AQ)

Asset quality is also hypothesized to have a positive relationship with bank

profitability. However, the result on Table 6 indicates that AQ is negative and

insignificant with ROA which is contrary to what is expected. Further, the result also

indicates that AQ does not significantly influence ROA of commercial banks of

Nepal.

Leverage Ratio (LER)

In contrast, LER is hypothesized to have a negative relationship with bank

profitability. The result on Table 6 indicates that LER is indeed negative but

insignificant with ROA meaning that LER does not influence ROA of commercial

banks of Nepal for the years 2011-2015.

Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPLR)

NPLR identified as an important factor in managing credit risk in the banks. It is

hypothesized to have a negative relationship with bank profitability. The result on

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Table 6 indicates that NPLR is negative and statistically significant at 1 percent level

of significance which confirms with expectations. Further the result denotes that

NPLR indeed influences ROA of Nepalese commercial banks. Keeping all the other

factors constant, 1 percent increase in NPLR leads to decrease in ROA by 0.1107

percent.

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

The result on Table 6 shows that CRR has a negative relationship with ROA of

commercial banks of Nepal which is what is expected. However, the result further

indicates that CRR is insignificant meaning that CRR does not influence ROA of

Nepalese commercial banks during the study period.

Female Board Member (FBM)

The variable FBM is hypothesized to have a positive relationship with bank

profitability. However, the result on Table 6 shows a contradictory result indicating

that FBM is negative and has an insignificant relationship with ROA indicating that

FBM does not influence ROA of Nepalese commercial banks.

In summary, the panel data analysis on ROA reveals that the independent variables

of CR, CAR, BS, and NPLR are statistically significant with the ROA of Nepalese

commercial banks.

However, the other remaining independent variables of LR, AQ, LER, CRR, and

FBM does not significantly influence ROA of commercial banks of Nepal. In

addition, the fixed effect model specification was found to be the better specification

compared to the random effect model specification as indicated by the Hausman test.

4.5.2 Panel data analysis on ROE

The results of the panel data analysis on ROE is presented in Table 7 and discussed

below.

Table 7, summarises the outcome of panel data analysis using ROE as the dependent

variable. The Hausman test for ROE calculated the p value to be 0.0663 which is

greater than the alpha of 0.05, implying that the random effect model is a better

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model specification than the fixed effect model. Under random effect model, the

variations across entities are assumed to be random and uncorrelated with the

independent variables.

Table 7: Results of panel data analysis on ROE

Variable FE Model RE Model CR -0.5673

(0.287) -0.3491 (0.398)

CAR 0.2091 (0.524)

-0.1364 (0.600)

LR 0.3483 (0.125)

0.1499 (0.207)

BS 8.5428 (0.025)**

12.5645 (0.000)***

AQ 0.0112 (0.680)

0.0182 (0.458)

LER 0.0782 (0.049)**

0.0432 (0.240)

NPLR -1.1057 (0.028)**

-0.5389 (0.192)

CRR 0.3843 (0.236)

-0.0333 (0.821)

FBM -3.8904 (0.307)

-4.1761 (0.049)**

Constant -219.2536 (0.031)**

-293.8033 (0.000)***

F-statistic 0.0037 R2 0.4899 Adjusted R2 0.3081 Hausman Test Prob>Chi2 = 0.0663

***, ** and * significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively.

The panel data analysis on ROE shows that the independent variables BS and FBM

are the only variables that are statistically significant with ROE of Nepalese

commercial banks. On the other hand, the other remaining independent variables of

CR, CAR, LR, AQ, LER, NPLR, and CRR are not statistically significant variables

in explaining ROE.

Bank Size (BS)

Using the result preseted in Table 7, it indicates that BS and ROE have a positive and

statistically significant relationship at 1 percent level of significance. This means that

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BS influences the ROE of Nepalese commercial banks and is a very important

predictor of ROE of commercial banks of Nepal. Keeping all the other factors

constant, 1 percent increase in BS leads to an increase in ROE by 12.5645 percent.

Female Board Member (FBM)

The variable FBM is hypothesized to have a positive relationship with bank

profitbility based on on literature review of similar studies on other sectors. The

result on Table 7 indicates that FBM and ROE has a negative relatioship. It is also

statistically significant at 5 percent level of significance indicating that FBM is a

very important predictor of ROE of Nepalese commercial banks. One possible

explanation of the negative result is due to a lack of female board members in most

of Nepalese commercial banks and may be due to lack of participation in major

decision making process.

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Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter presents the conclusions of the study. It starts with a summary of the findings and then provides recommendations as well as areas of further reseach at the end of this chapter.

5.0 Summary and Conclusion

In chapter 1, the significance of the study and the purpose of the research were

presented and discussed. As specified earlier, the primary aim of the study is to

examine the impact of credit risk management on the profitability of commercial

banks of Nepal. The various studies on the topic reviewed in the context of

developed and developing countries were presented in chapter 2. Based on the

review, appropriate variables were selected to be included in the analysis. Each of the

variables were then defined and the rationale of choosing them were put forward.

The calculation formula and the expected sign were also discussed. However, two

independent variables which have not been used in previous studies were added in

the finale models. As dependent variables indicating profitability of commercial

banks, ROA and ROE were selected as these were the most popular variables in the

literature. Explanatory variables include: CAR, LR, BS, AQ, LER, NPLR, CRR, CR,

and FBM representing credit risk management. For this study, a pooled regression

analysis and a panel data analysis were applied for all 28 commercial banks of Nepal

for the period 2011 to 2015.

The primary research question of “What is the relationship between credit risk

management and profitability of Nepalese commercial banks from 2011 to 2015?” is

addressed using the results from the various statistical analysis. Overall, the results

imply that there exists a relationship between credit risk management and

profitability of commercial banks of Nepal. Specifically, the study identified factors

that influence the financial performance of Nepalese commercial banks.

The analyses revealed that capital adequacy ratio (CAR) has a positive and

statistically significant impact on bank profitability of Nepalese commercial banks.

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The finding confirms with expectation and the finding of Ogboi and Unuafe (2013)

but contrary to that of Poudel (2012). In addition, from most of other studies

reviewed there were mixed results and were unable to establish a relationship

between CAR and bank profitability. This study in contrast accepts the hypothesis

that Nepalese commercial banks with higher CAR can absorb credit losses

preventing the banks from financial loss.

Bank size (BS) has a positive and a strong significant relationship with the financial

performance of Nepalese commercial banks. This finding is what is expected and to

the finding of Bhattarai (2014) but contradictory to that of Abdelrahim (2013). This

result is consistent with the hypothesis that larger Nepalese commercial banks are

able to make more profit.

Coverage ratio (CR) is found to have a strong significant positive relationship with

the profitability of Nepalese commercial bank. The finding is consistent with theory.

CR is one of the two variables introduced in this study as it has not been used in

other studies before. The result confirms acceptance of the hypothesis that Nepalese

commercial banks with higher coverage ratio have a good quality of loan portfolio

with good interest income resulting to better bank performance.

Further, the analyses revealed that NPLR has a statistically significant negative

impact on financial performance of Nepalese commercial banks. The finding is

similar to that of Aduda and Gitonga (2011), Bhattarai (2014), Kaaya and Pastory

(2013), Zou and Li (2014), and Ndoka and Islami (2016) but contrary to that of

Afriyie and Akotey (2012), and Alshatti (2015). Some other studies have found

mixed results but were unable to establish a relationship between NPL and bank

performance. This serve as an evidence that Nepalese commercial banks have

efficient ways of assessing credit. The findings prove that NPL in Nepalese

commercial banks decreases loan payment, resulting in less income and less

available capital to invest which leads to decrease in bank profitability.

Leverage ratio (LR) is found to have a negative and statistically significant impact on

financial performance of commercial banks of Nepal. The finding is what is expected

and consistent to that of Alshatti (2015). The study is also confirms the notion that

Nepalese banks can avoid bankruptcy and protect depositors fund by maintaining

low financial leverage.

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Female board members (FBM) have significant negative impact on Nepalese

commercial bank profitability. The result is however contrary to what is expected as

FBM was hypothesized to have a positive relationship with bank profitability. This

variable was a novelty in this study as this has not been used before. Yet, the study

fails to accept the hypothesis that women in a top position in commercial banks of

Nepal enhance bank performance.

On the other hance, the other independent variables of liquidity ratio (LR), asset

quality (AQ), and cash reserve ratio (CRR) could not be regarded as influencing

variable on bank performance as they are found to be insignificant at 5 percent level

of significance.

In summary, the findings of the study indicate that the commercial banks of Nepal

have a good credit risk management practices which are evidenced by the significant

result for CAR, BS, CR, NPLR, LER, and FBM. The overall result showed that

credit risk management is an important predictor of bank financial performance,

hence indicating that the success of bank in terms of profitability depends on risk

management.

5.1 Recommendation

As the findings of the study have revealed, risk management has a significant

contribution to bank performance. It is recommended for banks to emphasize more

on risk management. In general, banks need to maintain an optimum level of CAR

(or as per regulatory requirement) so that they will not have difficulty in meeting

their financial obligations, protect their depositors’ investment and thus promotes the

stability of the financial system. Also, Nepalese banks are to be made aware that

bank performance is also influenced by its size. Larger banks tend to achieve higher

profits as they differentiate their products and are also able to diversify their risk to

operate in less competitive market.

The study further recommends for banks to control and monitor NPL, and keep the

level of NPL as low as possible by emphasizing more on the ability to pay back

before credit approvals are given, a practice that will enable banks to achieve higher

performance. Also, banks need to emphasize on coverage ratio, meaning that banks

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monitor all the factors related to interest income on loans such as a change in interest

rate, quality of loans, and assets and liabilities as they affect bank performance.

Further, the banks are recommended not to be highly financed by debt as higher

financial leverage will increase liabilities resulting negative effect on financial

performance. It is also recommended to balance the bank’s capital between

shareholder’s equity and debt in financing its operations. The study encourages

female board members in Nepalese banks to be more active in decision making and

for banks to increase the number of female board member.

Although, the study could not find any relationship between LR, AQ, and CRR with

bank performance, it does not mean that these variables are not important. These

variables need to be considered in managing risk in banks.

5.2 Contributions

Upon the completion of this research study, the research gap of examining the

relationship between credit risk management and profitability of Nepalese

commercial banks taking into account all the commercial banks of Nepal and

introducing 2 new variables that are hypothesized to be affecting bank profitability is

fulfilled. It is hoped that the findings presented are useful for academicians and the

banking industry.

Further, the findings and conclusions of this research also contribute as a source of

valuable information to bank management, investors, stakeholders, regulatory

bodies, financial analysts, economists or any other stakeholders that are making any

relevant decisions.

5.3 Areas for Further Research

A suggestion for further research could be performing research on the relationship

between financial risk management and financial performance of Nepalese banks

focusing on other risk management such as liquidity risk, market risk, or operational

risk.

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Another area of research could be the inclusion of development banks, finance

companies, and cooperatives which are successfully operating in the Nepalese

market.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Number of Financial Institutions, per sector and total from 1985-2017

Types of financial institutions/ Year

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Commercial Banks

3 5 10 13 17 18 20 25 26 27 31 32 31 30 30 30 28

Development Banks

2 2 3 7 26 28 38 58 63 79 87 88 86 84 76 73 57

Finance Companies

- - 21 45 60 70 74 78 77 79 79 69 59 53 47 48 36

Micro-Finance Financial Institutions

- - 4 7 11 11 12 12 15 18 21 24 31 37 38 41 48

Saving and Credit Cooperatives

- - 6 19 20 19 17 16 16 15 16 16 15 16 15 15 15

Non-Government Organizations

- - - 7 47 47 47 46 45 45 38 36 31 30 27 27 25

Total 5 7 44 98 181 193 208 235 242 263 272 265 253 250 233 234 209

Appendix B: List of Banks and Financial Institutions as of Mid-January, 2017 (Licenced by NRB)

Class: "A" (Commercial Banks) (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office Paid up

Capital Working Area

1 Nepal Bank Ltd. 1937/11/15 Dharmapath,Kathmandu 649.95 National Level 2 Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd. 1966/01/23 Singhadurbarplaza,Kathmandu 858.90 National Level 3 Agriculture Development Bank

Ltd. 1968/01/21 Ramshahpath, Kathmandu 1037.44 National Level

4 Nabil Bank Ltd. 1984/07/12 Beena Marg, Kathmandu 618.35 National Level 5 Nepal Investment Bank Ltd. 1986/03/09 Durbarmarg, Kathmandu 870.66 National Level 6 Standard Chartered Bank Nepal

Ltd. 1987/02/28 Nayabaneshwor, Kathmandu 374.99 National Level

7 Himalayan Bank Ltd. 1993/01/18 Kamaladi, Kathmandu 449.91 National Level 8 Nepal SBI Bank Ltd. 1993/07/07 Kesharmahal, Kathmandu 388.37 National Level 9 Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd. 1994/06/06 Kamaladi, Kathmandu 401.18 National Level 10 Everest Bank Ltd. 1994/10/18 Lazimpat , Kathmandu 274.26 National Level 11 Kumari Bank Ltd. 2001/04/03 Durbarmarg, Kathmandu 269.92 National Level 12 Laxmi Bank Ltd. 2002/04/03 Hattisar, Kathmandu 303.92 National Level 13 Citizens Bank International Ltd. 2007/04/20 Kamaladi, Kathmandu 553.74 National Level 14 Prime Commercial Bank Ltd. 2007/09/24 Newroad, Kathmandu 489.19 National Level 15 Sunrise Bank Ltd. 2007/10/12 Gairidhara, Kathmandu 530.14 National Level 16 Janata Bank Nepal Ltd. 2010/04/05 Naya Baneshwor, Kathmandu 206.00 National Level 17 Mega Bank Nepal Ltd. 2010/07/23 Kantipath, Kathmandu 401.20 National Level 18 Century Commercial Bank Ltd. 2011/03/10 Putalisadak , Kathmandu 368.90 National Level 19 Sanima Bank Ltd.1 2012/02/15 Nagpokhari, Kathmandu 530.59 National Level 20 Machhapuchhre Bank Ltd. 2012/7/9* New Road, Pokhara, Kaski 386.45 National Level 21 NIC Asia Bank Ltd. 2013/6/30* Thapathali, Kathmandu 581.96 National Level 22 Global IME Bank Ltd. 2014/4/9* Panipokhari, Kathmandu 616.43 National Level 23 NMB Bank Ltd. 2015/10/18* Babarmahal, Kathmandu 543.01 National Level

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24 Prabhu Bank Ltd. 2016/2/12* Babarmahal, Kathmandu 588.14 National Level 25 Siddhartha Bank Ltd. 2016/7/21* Hattisar, Kathmandu 302.21 National Level 26 Bank of Kathmandu Lumbini Ltd. 2016/7/14* Kamaladi, Kathmandu 457.69 National Level 27 Civil Bank Ltd.2 2016/10/17* Kamaladi, Kathmandu 458.38 National Level 28 Nepal Credit and Commerce

Bank Ltd.3 2017/01/01* Siddharthanagar, Rupandehi 467.91 National Level

*Joint operation date after merger. 1 Paidup Capital After acquisition of Bagmati Development Bank Ltd. by Sanima Bank Ltd. 2 After merger of Civil Bank Ltd. and International Leasing and Finance Company Ltd. 3 Paid Capital After merger of Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd., International Development Bank Ltd., Infrastructure Development Bank Ltd., Supreme Development Bank Ltd. and Apex Development Bank Ltd. Class: "B" (Development Banks) (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office Paid up

Capital Working Area

1 NIDC Development Bank Ltd. 1959/06/15 Durbar Marg, Kathmandu 41.58 National Level 2 Narayani Development Bank Ltd. 2001/10/17 Ratna Nagar, Chitawan 5.56 1-3 District

Level (Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Makawanpur)

3 Sahayogi Vikas Bank Ltd. 2003/10/23 Janakpurdham, Dhanusha 25.79 1-3 District Level (Dhanusa, Mahottari, Sindhuli)

4 Karnali Bikash Bank Ltd. 2004/02/18 Nepalgunj, Banke 13.96 1-3 District Level (Banke, Bardiya, Dang)

5 Gandaki Development Bank Ltd. 2005/01/25 Pokhara, Kaski 53.86 4-10 District level (Chitwan, Syanja, Kaski, Lamjung, Parbat, Tanahu, Gorkha, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Baglung)

6 Excel Development Bank Ltd. 2005/07/21 Birtamod, Jhapa 30.77 1-3 District Level (Ilam, Jhapa, Morang)

7 Western Development Bank Ltd. 2005/09/15 Ghorahi, Dang 15.70 1-3 District Level (Dang, Banke, Kapilbastu)

8 Miteri Development Bank Ltd. 2006/10/13 Dharan, Sunsari 21.13 1-3 District Level (Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari)

9 Tinau Bikas Bank Ltd. 2006/11/01 Butwal, Rupandehi 27.31 1-3 District Level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitwan)

10 Muktinath Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/01/03 Pokhara, Kaski 153.14 National Level 11 Sewa Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/02/25 Butwal, Rupandehi 42.56 4-10 District

level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Kapilbastu, Palpa, Syangha,Chitawan, Gulmi, Arghakhachi, Dang, Bake )

12 Kankai Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/05/03 Damak, Jhapa 12.50 1-3 District

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Level (Jhapa, Ilam, Morang)

13 Ace Development Bank Ltd. 2007/08/15 Narayanchaur, Naxal, Kathmandu

120.30 National Level

14 Mahakali Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/08/18 Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur 14.88 1-3 District Level (Kanchanpur, Kailali, Dadeldhura)

15 Bhargab Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/08/30 Nepalgunj, Banke 12.00 1-3 District Level (Banke, Dang, Bardiya)

16 Country Development Bank Ltd. 2007/10/4 Banepa, Kavre 35.69 4-10 District level (Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhupalchowk, Sindhuli, Bara, Parsa, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu)

17 Alpine Development Bank Ltd. 2007/10/05 Hetauda, Makawanpur 22.71 1-3 District Level (Makawanpur, Chitwan, Kavrepalanchowk)

18 Corporate Development Bank Ltd.

2007/11/07 Birgunj, Parsa 20.00 1-3 District Level (Parsa, Makawanpur, Kavrepalanchowk)

19 Kabeli Bikas Bank Ltd. 2007/12/16 Dhankutabazaar, Dhankuta 7.02 1 District Level (Dhankuta)

20 Purnima Bikas Bank Ltd. 2008/05/20 Siddharthanagar, Rupandehi 30.26 1-3 District Level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitwan)

21 Hamro Bikas Bank Ltd. 2009/04/19 Battar, Nuwakot 12.23 1 District Level (Nuwakot)

22 Kakre Bihar Bikas Bank Ltd. 2009/05/15 Birendranagar, Surkhet 6.09 1 District Level (Surkhet)

23 Pacific Development Bank Ltd. 2009/07/26 Beshishahar, Lamjung 13.30 1 District Level (Lamjung)

24 Kanchan Development Bank Ltd. 2009/09/19 Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur 19.80 1-3 District Level (Kailali, Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura)

25 Innovative Development Bank Ltd.

2009/11/13 Siddharthanagar, Rupandehi 29.05 1-3 District Level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitwan)

26 Raptibheri Bikas Bank Ltd. 2010/01/15 Nepalgunj, Banke 14.38 1-3 District Level(Banke, Bardiya, Dang)

27 Tourism Development Bank Ltd.4 2010/03/18 New Baneshwor, Kathmandu 91.98 National Level 28 Mission Development Bank Ltd. 2010/06/15 Butwal, Rupandehi 19.49 1-3 District

Level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Kapilvastu)

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29 Mount Makalu Development Bank Ltd.

2010/07/21 Basantapur, Terathum 2.60 1 District Level (Terathum)

30 Sindhu Bikas Bank Ltd. 2010/09/09 Barhabise, Sindhupalchowk 25.73 1-3 District Level (Sindhupalchowk, Kavre, Dolkha)

31 Sahara Bikas Bank Ltd. 2010/10/27 Malangawa, Sarlahi 2.36 1 District Level (Sarlahi) 32 Nepal Community Development

Bank Ltd. 2010/11/03 Butwal, Rupendehi 20.95 1-3 District

Level (Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitwan)

33 Cosmos Development Bank Ltd. 2010/11/17 Harmaatarichowk, Gorkha 10.06 1 District Level (Gorkha)

34 Manasalu Bikash Bank Ltd. 2010/12/14 Buspark, Gorkha 18.35 1-3 District Level (Gorkha, Tanahu, Chitwan)

35 Kasthamandap Development Bank Ltd.

2012/4/13* New Road, Kathmandu 67.99 National Level

36 Salapa Bikash Bank Ltd. 2012/07/16 Diktel, Khotang 1.40 1 District Level (Khotang)

37 Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd.

2012/10/02 Tankisunuwari, Morang 10.00 1-3 District Level (Morang, Ilam, Panchthar)

38 Sajha Bikash Bank Ltd. 2013/4/30 Dhangadi, Kailali 10.00 1-3 District Level (Kailali, Kanchanpur, Doti)

39 Professional Diyalo Bikas Bank Ltd.5

2013/6/30* Banepa, Kavre 24.04 4-10 District level (Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhupalchowk, Dolkha, Sindhuli,, Makwanpur, Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Rupandehi, Tanahu, Kaski)

40 Arniko Development Bank Ltd. 2013/7/14* Dhulikhel, Kavre 25.78 4-10 District level (Kavrepalanchwok, Sindhuli, Dhanusa, Dolkha, Mahottari, Udaypur, Sunsari, Makwanpur, Parsa,Morang)

41 Yeti Development Bank Ltd. 2013/7/15* Durbar Marg, Kathmandu 138.62 National Level 42 Green Development Bank Ltd. 2013/8/25 Baglung Bazar, Baglung 10.00 1-3 District

Level (Baglung, Myagdi, Kaski)

43 Reliable Development Bank Ltd. 2014/4/16* Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu 78.86 National Level

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44 Biratlaxmi Bikas Bank Ltd. 2014/5/17* Biratnagar, Morang 42.54 4-10 District level (Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta, Terhathum, Bhojpur, Ilam, Taplejung and

Paanchthar) 45 Sangrila Development Bank Ltd. 2014/7/13* Baluwatar, Kathmandu 107.35 National Level 46 Triveni Bikas Bank Ltd. 2015/6/1* Bharatpur, Chitawan 82.00 National Level 47 Deva Development Bank Ltd. 2015/7/10* Laldurbarmarga, Kathmandu 88.11 National Level 48 Fewa Bikas Bank Ltd. 2015/7/13* Pokhara, Kaski 99.50 National Level 49 Om Development Bank Ltd. 2016/4/4* Pokhara, Kaski 105.28 National Level 50 Kailash Bikash Bank Ltd. 2016/4/4* Putalisadak, Kathmandu 158.03 National Level 51 Siddhartha Development Bank

Ltd. 2000/06/26 Tinkune, Kathmandu 141.92 National Level

52 Shine Resunga Development Bank Ltd.

2013/3/17* Butawal, Rupandehi 86.84 4-10 District level (Rupandehi,Nawalparasi,Arghakhachi

,Gulmi,Palpa,Dang,Pyuthan,Kapilvastu,Baglung and Chitwan)

53 Kamana Bikas Bank Ltd. 2016/6/20* Srijanachowk,Pokhara, Kaski 66.16 National Level 54 Jyoti Bikas Bank Ltd. 2016/8/12* Kamaladi, Kathmandu 98.70 National Level 55 Vibor Socitety Development

Bank Ltd. 2016/9/2* Dillibazar, Kathmandu 181.50 National Level

56 Mahalaxmi Bikash Bank Ltd. 2016/9/4* Thapathali, Kathmandu 115.62 National Level 57 Garima Bikas Bank Ltd. 2016/9/20* Pokhara, Kaski 108.05 National Level

*Joint operation date after merger 4 Paidup Capital After Acquisition of Matribhumi Bikas Bank Ltd. and Kalinchok Development Bank Ltd. by Tourism Development Bank Ltd. 5 Laxmi Bank Ltd. has been given approval to acquire Professional Diyalo Development Bank Ltd. effective from 2017/01/15

Class: "C" (Finance Companies) (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office Paid up

Capital Working Area

1 Nepal Finance Ltd. 1993/01/06 Kamaladi, Kathmandu 13.58 National Level 2 NIDC Capital Markets Ltd. 1993/03/11 Kamalpokhari, Kathmandu 23.36 National Level 3 Nepal Share Markets and Finance

Ltd. 1993/10/19 Ramshahapath, Kathmandu 23.33 National Level

4 Union Finance Ltd. 1994/12/12 Narayanchaur, Naxal 17.66 National Level 5 Paschhimanchal Finance Co.Ltd. 1995/04/09 Butawal, Rupandehi 34.90 National Level 6 Goodwill Finance Ltd. 1995/5/15 Hattisar, Kathmandu 45.38 National Level 7 Shree Investment & Finance Co.

Ltd. 1995/06/01 Dillibazar, Kathmandu 24.31 National Level

8 Lumbini Finance & Leasing Co. Ltd.

1995/06/26 Thamel, Kathmandu 41.25 National Level

9 Lalitpur Finance Co. Ltd. 1995/12/14 Lagankhel, Lalitpur 18.79 National Level 10 United Finance Co. Ltd. 1996/01/26 Durbarmarg, Kathmandu 64.38 National Level 11 General Finance Ltd. 1996/2/1 Chabahil, Kathmandu 13.22 National Level 12 Progressive Finance Co. Ltd. 1996/02/26 Newroad, Kathmandu 20.02 National Level 13 Janaki Finance Co. Ltd. 1997/03/07 Janakpurdham, Dhanusha 31.08 1-3 District

Level (Dhanusa, Mahottari, Siraha)

14 Pokhara Finance Ltd. 1997/03/16 Pokhara, Kaski 55.74 National Level 15 Central Finance Ltd. 1997/04/14 Kupondole, Lalitpur 24.68 National Level 16 Arun Finance Ltd. 1997/08/17 Dharan, Sunsari 15.00 National Level 17 Multipurpose Finance Co. Ltd 1998/04/15 Rajbiraj, Saptari 3.70 1 District Level

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(Saptari) 18 Shrijana Finance Ltd. 1999/12/14 Biratnagar, Morang 20.16 1-3 District

Level (Morang, Sunsari, Saptari)

19 World Merchant Banking & Finance Ltd.

2001/08/10 Hetauda, Makawanpur 18.20 National Level

20 Capital Merchant Banking & Finance Co. Ltd.

2002/02/01 Battisputali, Kathmandu 93.51 National Level

21 Crystal Finance Ltd. 2002/3/13 Thapathali, Kathmandu 7.00 National Level 22 Guheshwori Merchant Banking &

Finance Ltd. 2002/06/13 Pulchowk, Lalitpur 29.37 National Level

23 Everest Finance Ltd. 2003/07/02 Siddharthanagar, Rupandehi 15.75 1-3 District Level (Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi)

24 ICFC Finance Ltd. 2004/07/15 Bhatbhateni, Kathmandu 80.18 National Level 25 Kuber Merchant Finance Ltd. 2006/03/24 Kamalpokhari, Kathmandu 15.00 National Level 26 Seti Finance Ltd. 2006/05/18 Tikapur, Kailali 6.35 1 District Level

(Kailali) 27 Hama Merchant & Finance Ltd. 2006/06/16 Tripureshwor, Kathmandu 22.10 National Level 28 Namaste Bitiya Sanstha Ltd. 2007/07/09 Ghorahi, Dang 3.75 1 District Level

(Dang) 29 Unique Financial Institution Ltd. 2007/10/12 Putalisadak, Kathmandu 27.68 National Level 30 Manjushree Financial Institution

Ltd. 2007/10/17 Nayabaneshwor, Kathmandu 25.07 National Level

31 Jebil's Finance Ltd. 2009/10/28 Newroad, Kathmandu 25.69 National Level 32 Bhaktapur Finance Ltd. 2011/02/08 Chyamasing , Bhaktapur 21.10 National Level 33 Synergy Finance Ltd. 2012/12/6* Butawal, Rupandehi 47.44 National Level 34 Reliance Finance Ltd. 2014/05/08* Pradarsani Marg, Kathmandu 44.57 National Level 35 Sagarmatha Finance Ltd. 2015/7/16* Maanvawan, Lalitpur 36.93 National Level 36 Gorkhas Finance Ltd. 2016/4/10* Dillibazar, Kathmandu 57.87 National Level

** In the process of liquidation. *Joint operation date after merger

9 Acquired by Citizens Bank International with effective from 2016/7/17 Class: "D" (Micro Finance Financial Institutions) (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office Paid up

Capital Working Area

1 Nirdhan Utthan Bank Ltd. 1999/07/17 Naxal, Kathmandu 60.00 National Level 2 Rural Microfinance Development

Centre Ltd. 1999/12/06 Putalisadak, Kathmandu 62.92 National Level

3 Deprosc Microfinance Development Bank Ltd.

2001/07/03 Bharatpur, Chitwan 25.79 National Level

4 Chhimek Microfinance Development Banks Ltd.

2001/12/10 Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu 59.57 National Level

5 Shawalamban Laghu Bitta Bikas Banks Ltd.

2002/02/22 Lalcolony Marg, Kathmandu 31.24 National Level

6 Sana Kisan Bikas Bank Ltd. 2002/03/11 Subidhanagar, Kathmandu 40.24 National Level 7 Nerude Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank

Ltd. 2007/06/15 Biratnagar, Morang 18.00 National Level

8 Naya Nepal Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank Ltd.

2009/03/20 Dhulikhel, Kavre 2.00 4-10 District Level (Kavre, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa)

9 Mithila Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank Ltd.

2009/04/29 Dhalkebar, Dhanusha 5.09 4-10 District Level (Sindhuli, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Siraha, Sarlahi,

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Saptari, Rautahat, Udaypur, Bara, Ramechhap)

10 Summit Microfinance Development Bank Ltd.

2009/05/20 Birtamod, Jhapa 5.00 4-10 District Level (Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Taplejung, Ilam, Panchthar, Udayapur, Saptari, Siraha, Dhankuta)

11 Sworojagar Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank Ltd

2009/12/16 Banepa, Kavre 7.00 4-10 District Level (Kavre, Chitwan, Makawanpur,Nawalparasi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Tanahu, Gorkha, Lamjung)

12 First Microfinance Development Bank Ltd

2009/12/28 Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu 26.45 National Level

13 Nagbeli Microfinance Development Bank Ltd

2010/02/04 Birtamod, Jhapa 2.50 1-3 District Level (Jhapa, Morang, Ilam)

14 Kalika Microcredit Development Bank Ltd.

2010/07/21 Waling, Syangja 5.00 4-10 District Level (Syanja, Kaski, Parbat, Palpa, Nawalparasi,Rupandehi, Tanahu,Dhading,Gorkha, Makwanpur)

15 Mirmire Microfinance Development Bank Ltd.

2010/09/23@

Banepa, Kavre 2.00 10+5 District (Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Dolkha, Gulmi, Kavrepalanchowk, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Rukum, Rolpa, Salyan, Arghakhachi, Pyuthan)

16 Janautthan Samudayik Microfinance Dev. Bank Ltd.

2010/11/09 Butwal, Rupandehi 2.40 4-10 District Level (Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Parsa)

17 Womi Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2012/03/08 Khanikhola, Dhading 5.40 10+5 District (Dhading, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Tanahu, Lamjung, Kavrepalancho

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wk, Kaski, Syanja, Palpa, Sindhuli, Okhaldhunga, Udayapur, Dhankuta, Gorkha)

18 Laxmi Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2012/06/04 Maharajgunj, Kathmandu 21.84 National Level

19 ILFCO Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2012/07/05 Chuchepati , Kathmandu 10.00 National Level

20 Mahila Sahayatra Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2012/12/25 Chitlang, Makwanpur 11.00 National Level

21 Kisan Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/01/16 Lamkichuha, Kailali 2.00 10+5 District (Kailali, Achham, Bajura, Bajhang, Baitadi, Darchula, Kalikot, Humla, Mugu, Doti, Dadheldhura, Dailekh, Salyan, Jajarkot, Jumla)

22 Vijaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/03/28 Gaidakot, Nawalparasi 14.00 National Level

23 NMB Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/03/31 Pokhara-Hemja, Kaski 4.60 10+15 District (Mustang, Manang, Myagdi, Kaski, Lamjung, Gorkha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchwok, Dolakha, Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Ramechhap, Parbat, Nuwakot,Okhaldhunga,Bhojpur,Khotang,Dhankuta,Terhathum,Ilam,Panchthar, Rukum,Dhading and Tanahu)

24 FORWARD Community Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/05/17 Duhabi Bhaluwa, Sunsari 14.00 National Level

25 Reliable Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/05/19 Besisahar, Lamjung 5.65 4-10 District Level (Lamjung, Manang, Mustang, Dolpa, Ramechhap, Sindupalchowk, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Gorkha)

26 Mahuli Samudyik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/06/15 Bakdhuwa, Saptari 2.80 4-10 District Level (Saptari, Siraha, Udayapur, Khotang,

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Sunsari, Bhojpur, Okhaldhunga, Sindhuli, Dhankuta, Ramechhap)

27 Suryodaya Laghubitta Bitiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/07/16 Putalibazar, Syanja 4.00 4-10 District Level (Baglung, Myagdi, Parbat, Syanja, Manang, Lamjung, Mustang, Gulmi, Pyuthan, Rolpa)

28 Mero Microfinance Bittiya Sanatha Ltd.

2013/07/18 Battar, Nuwakot 20.00 National Level

29 Samata Microfinance Bittiya Sanatha Ltd.

2013/08/25 Pipra, Simara 2.21 1 District Level (Bara)

30 RSDC Laghubitta Bitiya Sanstha Ltd.

2013/09/11 Butwal, Rupandehi 10.00 National Level

31 Samudayik Laghubitta Bitiya Sanstha Ltd.

2014/04/13 Panchkhal, Kavre 1.40 4-10 District Level (Paanchkhal, Kavrepalanchowk, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Solukhumbu,Okhaldhunga, Nuwakot, Khotang, Bhojpur, Sankhuasabha)

32 National Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2014/07/02 Nilkantha, Dhading 10.00 National Level

33 Nepal Grameen Bikas Bank Ltd. 2014/8/15* Butawal, Rupandehi 55.75 National Level 34 Nepal Sewa Laghubitta Bittiya

Sanstha Ltd. 2014/10/26 Phataksila, Sindhupalchok 1.05 1-3 District

Level (Sindhupalchok, Rasuwa, Nuwakot)

35 Unnati Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2014/11/07 Padsari, Rupandehi 3.08 4-10 District Level (Rupandehi, Palpa, Pyuthan, Kapilvastu, Arghakhhachi, Gulmi, Parbat, Baglung, Myagdi, Mustang)

36 Swadeshi Lagubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2014/12/31 Itahari, Sunsari 7.00 National Level

37 NADEP Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2015/05/15 Gajuri, Dhading 11.20 National Level

38 Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2015/07/12 Hasposa, Itahari 4.20 4-10 Distrit Level (Sunsari, Terathum, Dhankuta, Panchthar, Bhojpur, Udayapur, Khotang, Sindhuli, Ramechhap, Makwanpur)

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39 Arambha Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2015/07/23 Melamchi, Sindhupalchowk 1.96 4-10 District Level(Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Bhojpur, Terathum, Dhankuta)

40 Janasewi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2015/09/29 Kushma, Parbat 2.45 4-10 District Level(Parbat, Baglung, Myagdi, Gulmi, Rukum, Rolpa, Kaski, Tanahu,Lamjung,Gorkha)

41 Chautari Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2016/01/03 Butawal, Rupandehi 2.10 4-10 District Level(Nawalparasi,Rupandehi,Kapilvastu,Gulmi,Arghakhachi,Palpa,Rolpa,Dang,Salyan)

42 Ghodighoda Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

2016/06/12 Sripur Belouri, Kanchanpur 1.11 4-10 District Level (Kailali,Kanchanpur,Banke,Bardiya,Dang,Surkhet,Doti,Dadeldhura,Baitadi,Darchula)

43 Asha Lagubitta Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Madanpur Nuwakot 7.00 National Level

44 Nepal Agro Microfinance Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Pokhara, Kaski 1.40 4-10 District Level (Kaski, Parbat, Baglung, Gulmi, Pyuthan, Rolpa, Tanahun, Salyan, Palpa, Lamjung)

45 Rama Roshan Microfinance Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Mangalsen, Acham 1.34 4-10 District Level (Achham, Dadeldhura, Doti, Bajhang, Bajura, Kailali, Jumla, Kalikot, Dailekh, Surkhet)

46 Creative Laghu Bitta Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Pratapur, Kailali 1.40 4-10 District Level (Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardiya, Surkhet, Doti, Achham, Kalikot, Bajura, Darchula, Bajhang)

47 Gurans Laghu Bitta Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Dhankutabazaar, Dhankuta 1.40 4-10 District Level (Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, Terhathum, Dhankuta,

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Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur,

48 Ganapati Microfinance Bittiya Sastha Ltd.

Shuklagandaki, Tanahu 7.00 National Level

*Joint operation date after merger.

Savings and Credit Co-operatives Limited banking) (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office Paid up

Capital 1 Shree Nabajivan Co-operative Ltd. 1993/12/15 Dhangadi, Kailali 11.72 2 Sagun Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. 1994/10/9 Chhetrapati, Kathamandu 1.17 3 Nepal Sahakari Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. 1994/12/30 Newbaneshwor, athamandu 2.98 4 The Sahara Loan Saving Co-operative

Society Ltd. 1995/4/15 Malangwa, Sarlahi 12.65

5 Bindabasini Saving & Credit Sahakari Sanstha Ltd.

1995/6/21 Khopasi, Kavre 16.42

6 Mahila Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. 1995/9/27 Kuleshwor, Kathmandu 2.66 7 Nepal Multipurpose Sahakari Sanstha

Ltd. 1995/12/25 Mechinagar,Jhapa 36.79

8 Sahakari Bittiya Bikash Sanstha Ltd. 1996/6/16 Nepalgunj, Banke 1.96 9 Shree Manakamana Sahakari Sanstha

Ltd. 1997/2/18 Banepa, Kavre 5.28

10 Bheri Sahakari Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. 1997/3/5 Nepalgunj, Banke 1.70 11 Viccu Saving & Credit Sahakari

Sanstha Ltd. 1997/8/11 Gaidakot, Nawalparasi 15.63

12 Kisan Multipurpose Sahakari Sanstha 1997/12/29 Lamki, Kailali 6.30

Ltd. 13 Star Multipurpose Saving & Credit

Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. 1998/4/14 Biratnagar, Morang 3.24

14 Himalaya Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. 1998/4/29 Purano Baneshwor, Kathmandu 5.75 15 Upakar Saving & Credit Sahakari

Sanstha Ltd. 2000/3/21 Walling, Syangja 5.14

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) S. No. Name Operation

Date (A.D.) Head Office

1 Chartare Yuba Club 2000/06/05 Tityang,Baglung 2 Unique Nepal 2000/06/29 Naya Gaun, Bardiya 3 Samudayik Mahila Bikas Kendra 2000/07/14 Rajbiraj, Saptari 4 Dhaulagiri Community Researh Dev.

Centre 2000/10/21 Baglung

5 Society of Local Volunteers Efforts Nepal (Solve)

2001/07/10 Dhankuta

6 Center for Women's Right and Development

2002/04/30 Kathmandu

7 MANUSHI 2002/05/03 Kathmandu 8 Jeevan Bikash Samaj 2002/06/18 Bariyati,Morang 9 Mahila Adarsha Sewa Kendra 2002/07/02 New Baneshwor, Kathmandu 10 Patan Buisiness and Professional

Women 2002/07/02 Pulchowk, Lalitpur

11 Womens Self -Relient Society 2002/07/14 Bharatpur, Chitwan 12 Creative Women Environment

Development Association. 2002/07/24 Maharajgunj, Kathmandu

13 Shreejana Development Center 2002/08/22 Pokhara, Kaski 14 Cottage & Small Industries

Organization 2002/09/02 Chabahil, Kathmandu

15 Social Upgrade in Progress of Education Region (SUPER)

2002/10/29 Tulsipur, Dang

16 Nepal Women Community Service Center

2002/10/30 Tribhuwan municipality, Dang

17 Gramin Mahila Bikash Sanstha 2003/04/23 Tribhuwan municipality, Dang 18 Gramin Mahila Utthan Kendra 2003/06/18 Tribhuwan municipality, Dang 19 Gramin Sewa Nepal 2003/09/18 Bhajani, Kailali 20 Mahila Upakar Manch 2003/10/29 Kohalpur, Banke

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21 Gramin Swayam Sewak Samaj 2005/11/20 Hariwon, Sarlahi 22 Srijana Community Development

Center 2012/11/18 Choharwa, Siraha

23 Rastriya Shaichhik Tatha Samajik Bikas Sanstha

2012/11/18 Kusma, Parbat

24 Nepal Grameen Bikas Sanstha 2012/12/13 Hadigaun,Kathmandu 25 Women Enterprises Association of

Nepal 2013/01/04 Putalisadak, Kathmandu

Other Institutions S. No. Name Office Contact Office 1 Rastriya Sahakari Bank Ltd. Kupondole,

Lalitpur Baneshwor, Kathmandu

2 Mashreq Bank PSC Dubai , UAE Thapathali, Kathmandu 3 Hydroelectricity Investment &

Development Company Ltd. Babarmahal Babarmahal ,Kathmandu

4 Omni Pvt.Ltd.$ Adarshnagar, Birgunj

Adarshanagar, Birgunj

5 Hulas Investment Pvt.Ltd.$ Ganabahal, Kathmandu

Ganabahal, Kathmandu

6 Sipradi Hire Purchase Pvt. Ltd.$ Thapathali, Kathmandu

Thapathali, Kathmandu

7 MAW Investment Pvt. Ltd.$ Biratnagar, Morang

Teku, Kathmandu

8 Batas Investment Co. Pvt. Ltd.$ Pokhara,Kaski Gairidhara, Kathmandu 9 Syakar Investment Pvt. Ltd.$ Kantipath,

Kathmandu Kantipath, Kathmandu

10 Jagadamba Credit & Investment Pvt. Ltd.$

Naxal, Kathmandu

Naxal, Kathmandu

$ For the purpose of hire purchase.