Relationship Among Non-Interest Income, Profitability and Risk in Nepalese Commercial Banks

Abstract

This study examines the relationship among non-interest income, profitability and risk in Nepalese commercial banks. The dependent variables are return on assets and risk-adjusted return on assets. The independent variables are non-interest income, income diversification, equity ratio, bank size, and loan ratio. The study is based on secondary data of 22 commercial banks with 154 observations for the period from 2011/12 to 2017/18. The data were collected from Banking and Financial Statistics published by Nepal Rastra Bank and annual reports of the selected commercial banks. The correlation coefficients and regression models are estimated to test the significance and importance of non-interest income on the profitability and risk in Nepalese commercial banks. The study shows that non-interest income has a positive impact on return on assets and risk-adjusted return on assets. It indicates that higher the net interest income, higher would be the return on assets of the banks. It also implies that higher the non-interest income, lower would be the bank risk. However, HHI has a negative impact on return on assets and risk-adjusted return on assets. It indicates that higher the HHI, lower would be the return on assets. It also shows that higher the HHI, higher would be the bank risk. The result also shows that equity ratio has a positive impact on return on assets indicating that higher the equity ratio, higher would be the return on assets. Likewise, bank size has a positive impact on return on assets and risk-adjusted return on assets. It means that larger the bank size, higher would be the return on assets. It also indicates that larger the bank size, lower would be the bank risk. The result also shows that loan ratio has a negative impact on return on assets which indicates that increase in loan ratio leads to decrease in return on assets. The study concludes that bank size followed by equity ratio is the most influencing factor that explains the profitability in Nepalese commercial banks. Similarly, bank size is the most influencing factor that explains the level of risk in Nepalese commercial banks.