An established, strongly capitalised private bank with a dependable dividend record — but its per-share profit has stayed flat for years as yearly bonus shares keep enlarging the share count.
Eastern Bank is one of Bangladesh's established private commercial banks — profitable every single year in our records, a reliable dividend payer, and carrying the highest local credit-safety grade. It suits investors who want steady income from a large, financially solid bank rather than fast growth. The main catch is that its per-share profit and per-share asset value have drifted sideways, because the bank hands out new bonus shares most years, spreading the same profit across more and more shares.
Value today
Around fair valueToday
৳24.3
Rough estimate
৳28.2
Based on its own past price levels, what similar companies trade at, the value of what it owns and the dividend it pays. · low confidence
- Its own usual price vs profit৳31.2
- Priced like similar companies (profit)৳29.2
- Its own usual price vs asset value৳28.6
- Priced like similar companies (assets)৳17.3
- Based on the dividend it pays৳41.7
A rough, educational estimate from the figures we have — not a price target or advice.
Data as of 2026-07-16
What does this company do?
A large, long-listed private bank — on the market since 1993, profitable every year, and backed strongly by its sponsors and big institutions.
Eastern Bank PLC is a private commercial bank that has been listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange since 1993, making it one of the older names among listed private banks. It sits in the exchange's top 'A' category. Today it is a sizeable institution: about 164.4 crore shares in issue, paid-up capital of Tk 1,644 crore, and a reserve cushion — past profits kept inside the bank — of roughly Tk 3,365 crore.
The bank's balance sheet has grown steadily: total assets climbed from about Tk 39,219 crore in 2021 to roughly Tk 62,125 crore by 2024, and its loan book stands at around Tk 10,682 crore. In mid-2026 it also carried the highest local credit-safety grade, 'AAA', from the Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh, and it appointed a new Managing Director, Mr. Hassan O. Rashid, effective April 2026.
Ownership is dominated by insiders and institutions rather than the general public: sponsors and directors hold about 31.44%, institutions about 40.84%, ordinary public investors about 27.05%, and foreign investors a tiny 0.67%. That heavy sponsor-plus-institution stake usually signals confidence from the people closest to the business.
How does it make money?
It earns the way banks do — lending money out at higher interest than it pays on deposits, plus fees — on a loan book of about Tk 10,682 crore.
Like any commercial bank, Eastern Bank makes its money mainly from the gap between two interest rates: the interest it charges borrowers and the lower interest it pays depositors and lenders. On top of that it earns fees and commissions from services such as trade finance, cards and everyday banking.
The raw fuel is its loan book — about Tk 10,682 crore lent out — funded largely by deposits and borrowings. This is why a bank's balance sheet is naturally 'heavy': for every Tk 100 of its own capital it carries a large multiple in deposits and borrowings, which is normal for the industry.
The bank also actively manages its capital base. In late 2025 it arranged to raise Tk 800 crore through a special 7-year bond to strengthen its capital buffer — a routine step for a growing bank that wants room to keep lending.
Is it actually making money?
Total profit has doubled in six years to Tk 834 crore, but per-share profit has stayed flat near Tk 5 because the share count keeps growing.
On the headline number, Eastern Bank has done well. Net profit rose almost every year — from about Tk 418 crore in 2020 to Tk 480 crore, Tk 512 crore, Tk 612 crore, Tk 660 crore, and then a strong Tk 834 crore in 2025. Over the whole 2020–2025 span, total profit roughly doubled (a 100% rise). Operating profit shows the same climb, from about Tk 1,087 crore in 2021 to Tk 1,584 crore in 2024.
There is, however, an important catch. The profit earned on each share has barely moved: it was Tk 5.15 per share in 2020 and Tk 5.23 in 2025 — a rise of just about 2% over the six years, wandering between roughly Tk 4.77 and Tk 5.23 in between. The reason is that the bank issues new bonus (stock) shares most years, so the growing profit is divided among an ever-larger number of shares.
For a shareholder, this is the key thing to understand: the bank is clearly earning more money in total, but each share's slice of that profit has stayed roughly the same. Whether that suits you depends on whether you value the bank's overall growth and dividends, or the growth of each individual share's earnings.
Is it financially safe?
Solidly built — debt steady at about 1.8–2.0× its own capital, a big Tk 3,365 crore reserve cushion, positive operating cash every year, and a top 'AAA' safety grade.
Eastern Bank looks financially sturdy. Its borrowings have stayed at a steady level relative to its own money — debt was about 1.89 times equity in 2021, 2.03 times in 2022, and settled back to around 1.8 times in 2023 and 2024. For a bank, which by nature runs largely on other people's money, that is a controlled, unremarkable level.
The bank's own capital has grown every year — shareholders' equity rose from about Tk 3,164 crore in 2021 to Tk 4,296 crore in 2024 — and it sits on a reserve cushion of roughly Tk 3,365 crore of past profits, on top of Tk 1,644 crore of paid-up capital. Its day-to-day operations also generated positive cash every year in our records, around Tk 29 crore in 2021 rising to about Tk 37 crore in 2024.
Independent confirmation comes from its credit rating: in mid-2026 the Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh reaffirmed Eastern Bank at 'AAA' for the long term with a stable outlook — the highest grade on that scale. One honest caveat: like most banks, its lending is far larger than its reserve cushion, so the quality of those loans always matters (more on that in the risks below).
How do we judge if it's fairly priced?
We judge the price by four plain yardsticks — its own past pricing, similar banks, its asset value, and its dividend; the live box beside this report does today's math.
This report deliberately does not tell you whether the share is cheap or dear today — that depends on the live price and is shown in the value box next to it. What we can explain is *how* a fair price is judged, using four common-sense yardsticks.
First, we look at how this same share has usually been priced against its own profit over the years, and against the value of what the bank owns. Second, we compare it with how similar banks are currently priced. Third, we weigh it against the bank's per-share asset value — what each share is worth on the books — which was about Tk 31.38 at the end of 2025. Fourth, we consider the cash dividend it pays.
The durable anchors behind all this are simple: the bank earns about Tk 5.23 of profit per share and holds about Tk 31.38 of asset value behind each share. The live value estimate combines these yardsticks against the current price so the verdict never goes stale — read that box for today's stance.
Value today
Around fair valueToday
৳24.3
Rough estimate
৳28.2
Based on its own past price levels, what similar companies trade at, the value of what it owns and the dividend it pays. · low confidence
- Its own usual price vs profit৳31.2
- Priced like similar companies (profit)৳29.2
- Its own usual price vs asset value৳28.6
- Priced like similar companies (assets)৳17.3
- Based on the dividend it pays৳41.7
A rough, educational estimate from the figures we have — not a price target or advice.
Does it reward shareholders?
A dependable payer every year, with the 2025 cash dividend lifted to 25% (Tk 2.50 a share) — a little under half its per-share profit.
Dividends are one of Eastern Bank's strongest points. It has paid a cash dividend every year in our records, and in 2025 it raised the cash payout to 25% of face value — that is Tk 2.50 in cash for each Tk 10 share — plus a small 3% stock (bonus-share) dividend. That 25% cash rate is the highest in the six years shown.
The trend before that was steady rather than rising: cash dividends of 17.5% in 2020, then 12.5% for three years (2021–2023), back to 17.5% in 2024, and now 25% in 2025. In taka terms the cash per share was Tk 1.75, then Tk 1.25 for three years, then Tk 1.75, and Tk 2.50.
The payout looks comfortable and safe: the Tk 2.50 cash dividend for 2025 is a little under half of the bank's Tk 5.23 per-share profit, leaving the rest inside the business to fund growth. (The dividend *yield* — the return relative to today's price — changes with the price and is shown live, so it is not quoted here.)
What makes it special?
Its edge is scale, age and a top safety rating rather than fast growth — profitable and well-run, but several peers have grown per-share earnings faster lately.
Eastern Bank's advantages are the quiet, durable kind: it is an established brand listed since 1993, one of the larger private banks with total assets around Tk 62,125 crore, and it carries the top local 'AAA' safety rating. A big reserve cushion and strong sponsor-plus-institution ownership add to that stability.
On profitability, it earns a healthy return on the money shareholders have put in — comfortably in the upper-middle of its banking peers, though a step below the very strongest returns in the group, such as those of Uttara Bank and Prime Bank. Where it lags is growth: on a per-share basis its earnings have been broadly flat over five years, while some peers posted much faster recent earnings jumps — for example NCC Bank and BRAC Bank grew their per-share earnings far more quickly in the latest year.
So the honest picture is a solid, safe, income-style bank rather than a fast-compounding growth story. Its real edge is reliability and scale, not a runaway lead over rivals.
Why it could do well
Doubling profits, a rising and reliable dividend, a fortress balance sheet, and strong insider backing.
- Total profit has doubled over 2020–2025, from about Tk 418 crore to Tk 834 crore, with 2025 the strongest year on record here.
- Dividends are reliable and rising — paid every year, with the 2025 cash dividend lifted to 25% (Tk 2.50 a share), the highest in six years.
- Financially solid — debt steady at about 1.8–2.0× its own capital, a Tk 3,365 crore reserve cushion, positive operating cash every year, and a top 'AAA' credit rating.
- Strong backing and scale — sponsors and directors hold about 31.44% and institutions about 40.84%; total assets have grown to roughly Tk 62,125 crore.
- Established and stable — a bank listed since 1993 with a long, unbroken record of yearly profits.
What could go wrong
Flat per-share earnings, a slipping per-share asset value, heavy reliance on borrowed money, loans far larger than the reserve cushion, and an auditor's cautionary note.
- Per-share profit is stuck — the profit earned on each share went from Tk 5.15 (2020) to Tk 5.23 (2025), up just about 2%, because yearly bonus shares keep enlarging the share count.
- Per-share asset value has slipped — the value of what the bank owns, split per share, fell from about Tk 36.28 (2020) to Tk 31.38 (2025) for the same reason.
- Bank-style leverage — it runs on deposits and borrowings at roughly 1.8–2.0× its own capital; a wave of bad loans or an economic shock would hit hard.
- Loans dwarf the reserve cushion — the roughly Tk 10,682 crore loan book is over three times the Tk 3,365 crore reserve surplus (a flagged caution), so loan quality is critical.
- Auditor's cautionary note — for the 2025 accounts the outside auditor attached an 'Emphasis of Matter' note drawing attention to a particular issue; worth reading before investing.
So, is it for you?
Best for steady-income, long-term investors who want a solid, dividend-paying bank — not for those chasing fast per-share growth.
Eastern Bank is, at heart, a steady-income holding. It is an established, well-capitalised private bank that has made a profit every year in our records, pays a dependable and recently rising dividend, and carries the highest local safety rating. For an investor who wants regular dividend income from a large, financially solid bank and can be patient, it ticks those boxes.
The honest caveat is growth. Because the bank pays out new bonus shares most years, its per-share profit and per-share asset value have moved sideways-to-down even as the total business has grown. Someone looking for fast-rising per-share earnings may find it slow, and every bank carries the underlying risk that a batch of loans goes bad.
In short: a reliable, income-oriented bank for patient, conservative investors — with the trade-off that each share's earnings have stayed flat. Whether the current price makes it attractive is a separate question, answered by the live value box beside this report, not here.
This is educational information, not investment advice. It explains the company's past record and business; it does not tell you to buy or sell. Always do your own research or consult a licensed adviser before investing.