By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: United Bank Ltd. has vaulted to the top spot among Pakistan’s listed companies, with its market capitalisation swelling to Rs1.28 trillion ($4.6 billion) on Tuesday, eclipsing longtime leader Oil & Gas Development Co.
The ascent reflects robust investor appetite for banking stocks amid falling interest rates, which have bolstered profitability across the sector. UBL’s market value now tops OGDC’s Rs1.26 trillion ($4.53 billion), showing a shift in a bourse long dominated by financial and energy heavyweights.
Just three years ago, UBL’s market value was below $500 million, illustrating the sharp growth tied to changes in Pakistan’s interest-rate policy. UBL shares have delivered a blistering 153.1% return over the past year, capping off a surge that saw the stock climb 37% in the last month alone. The price jumped from Rs375.57 on Dec. 8, 2025, to Rs502.74 on Tuesday, trading in a daily range of Rs484.10 to Rs517.
The bank’s rising fortunes come “on the back of effectively utilising the interest rate scenario,” said Samiullah Tariq, head of research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Co. Pakistan’s benchmark interest rate has plummeted from a peak of 22% in April 2024 to 10.5% by December 2025, a cut of 1,150 basis points that has supercharged lending margins and deposit growth for banks like UBL.
As a subsidiary of Bestway (Holdings) Ltd., which is fully owned by Bestway Group Ltd., UBL has capitalised on this environment to post standout financials. For the first nine months of calendar year 2025, the lender reported profit after tax of Rs34.7 billion, a 36% increase from the year-earlier period, with earnings per share climbing to Rs13.86. The bank sweetened the deal for shareholders with an interim cash dividend of Rs8 per share, pushing the year’s total payouts to Rs27.5 per share — among the loftiest in Pakistan’s banking industry.
OGDC, meanwhile, holds firm in second place, a reminder that financials and energy still command the lion’s share of the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s heft.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
