Pakistani banks dominated the Asia-Pacific rankings for best-performing stocks in the third quarter, driven by gains in the equities market, according to the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
The Bank of Punjab emerged as the top performer among publicly traded banks in the region with a market capitalization exceeding $100 million. The Bank of Khyber followed closely with a total return of 108.2 percent. Other Pakistani banks in the top 15 performers included the National Bank of Pakistan, JS Bank Ltd., Askari Bank Ltd., and Habib Bank Ltd.
The strong performance of Pakistani banks coincided with an 11.0 percent rise in the KSE-100 index in July and an 11.4 percent gain in September, supported by improving investor sentiment after a resolution of military tensions with India and strengthened diplomatic engagement with the United States.
Regional banks from Indonesia and Vietnam also featured among the top performers. PT Allo Bank Indonesia Tbk recorded a total return of 89.2 percent in Q3, while Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank, with a market capitalization of $9.34 billion as of September 30, achieved a 68.1 percent return, ranking seventh in the region. Other Vietnamese banks in the top 15 included Fortune Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank and Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
Conversely, the 15 worst-performing banks were led by mid-tier Chinese institutions. PT Bank NationalnobuTbk of Indonesia posted the lowest return in the analysis at negative 31.9 percent. Seven mid-sized Chinese banks, including Bank of Jiujiang Co Ltd., China Everbright Bank Co Ltd., Bank of Beijing Co Ltd., Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd., Bank of Shanghai Co Ltd., Industrial Bank Co Ltd., and Bank of Jiangsu Co Ltd., recorded losses ranging from negative 18.2 percent to negative 20 percent.
Several Indian banks also ranked among the bottom performers, including Aavas Financiers Ltd., Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd., and Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. Notably, Bangladesh-based Midland Bank PLC, which had led in Q2, fell to the third-worst performer in Q3 with a total return of negative 20.9 percent. South Korea’s KakaoBank Corp. also registered a negative 20.8 percent return.
