Profitability of Islamic Banking – A Study of Select Islamic Banks from Asia

Recently, the trend of Islamic banking profitability has attracted much attention in the literature of banks’ profitability. This study attempts to measure the impact of internal and external (macroeconomic) factors on the profitability of Islamic banking using data of select Islamic banks from Asia (Bahrain, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia) in the period of 2011– 2020. Panel data method is used in the empirical analysis. Return on Average Assets (ROAA) and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) are used as proxies of profitability in this study. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis are applied to the variables under study. Illustratively, there is a positive correlation between Liquidity Ratio (LQR) and Operating Expenses Ratio (OER). In addition, there is a negative correlation between Bank Age (BA) and Inflation Growth Rate (IGR). According to the test findings, Bank Size (BS) and Equity Ratio (ER) have statistically positive significant impact on profitability; while Bank Age (BA) has statistically negative significant impact on profitability of select Islamic banks. Inferentially, it is revealed that external (macroeconomic) variables viz., GDP Growth Rate (GDPGR), Inflation Growth Rate (IGR) and Type of Banking System (TBS) have non-significant impact on profitability of select Islamic banks.