Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank (AUB) reported a net profit of $278.4 million for the first half (H1) of the year, as against $262.5 million during H1 2014, marking an increase of 6.1 per cent.
 
The Q2 2015 net profit achieved was $ 131.2 million, a 4.2 per cent increase over the Q2 2014 reported profit of $125.9 million. The basic earnings per share in H1 2015 were 4.3 cents, compared to 4.2 cents in H1 2014.

The operating results of AUB were primarily driven by the growth in its core operating earnings across its major lines of business and markets, despite continuing sluggish economic trends in first half of year 2015 both in regional and European markets, a bank statement said.

Net interest income grew by 2.6 per cent from $381.7 million to $391.7 million, while fee income grew by 8.4 per cent from $78.5 million to $85.1 million. The cost income ratio stood at 28.8 per cent reflecting the continuing drive to focus on an intelligent spend approach, according to the statement.

Prudent risk management and monitoring sustained its asset quality with the non-performing loans ratio standing unchanged at 2.0 per cent while the specific provision coverage ratio was 81.0 per cent, the bank said.

Total provision coverage ratio, inclusive of collective impairment provisions, rose to 160.5 per cent as at June 30.

The Group’s Return on Average Equity (ROAE) for H1 2015 was maintained at 16.7 per cent, similar to H1 14. Return on Average Assets was higher at 1.8 per cent for H1 2015.

Hamad Al-Humaidhi, AUB Chairman, said: “AUB’s strong performance for the first half of 2015 against the backdrop of weak regional economic activity and continuing international uncertainty is very satisfactory.”

“The bank successfully completed a $400 million issue of Additional Tier 1 Perpetual Basel III Compliant Capital Securities in April 2015 at a very competitive pricing. This represents an important step forward in terms of the evolution and diversification of the Group’s capital structure.

“The strong results for H1/2015 represent clear testimony of AUB’s well-managed business model based on diversification and cross border flows and of the success of its selective growth initiatives to increase operating income and mitigate risk challenges in its target markets,” added Al-Humaidhi. – TradeArabia News Service