Application of Economic Value Added in Banking Sector of Iran

Economic Value Added, or EVA is one of the popular tools that bankers can use to measure the financial performance of their bank. EVA helps management to conduct internal goal-setting. The long-term goal is preferred than short-term implications. It measures the company’s financial performance based on the residual wealth calculated by deducting its cost of capital from its operating profit, adjusted for taxes on a cash basis. It helps to capture the real economic profit of a company. The main objective of this study is to examine the Iranian banks' financial performance based on EVA which is the modern concept introduced to evaluate the performance of banks. Data are collected for the study, which consisted annual reports of the banks from 2006 to 2017 (12 years). Private banks selected in this study were associated with increased non-performing loan to total loan, reduced capital adequacy, reduced profits and increased inefficiencies. All of these factors have led to reduction not only in the economic value of banks but also the negative EVA of selected banks. Banks are encouraged to identify unnecessary activities and reduce the cost of providing services to improve the economic value added of banks.