National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) yesterday said it maintained steady growth in business to post a net profit of BD25.60 million ($68.09m) for the six months of this year compared to BD25.57m for the same period last year.

'I am pleased to see the continued progress made by the bank in a very challenging environment for the banking industry,' chairman Abdulla Ali Kanoo said.

'The bank's focus on supporting and developing the active sectors of the local economy resulted in a steady growth in our business and consistent profitability in spite of the harsh market conditions as a result of the global economic meltdown,' chief executive officer and director Abdul Razak A Hassan Al Qassim said.

'While the region in general and certain financial institutions in particular has been severely impacted, we continue to achieve growth as a result of our long-term business planning and prudent risk management policies.'

The growth in the bank's loans and deposits and tactical balance sheet management resulted in the net interest income increasing from BD22.70 million for the six months period last year to BD25.14 million for the six months period this year.

Other income for the current year was BD13.32 million compared to BD15.42 million for the previous year.

While other income from core business activities continues to show good growth, income from syndications and mutual fund business declined on account of slowdown in market activities.

Operating expenses increased marginally from BD12.55 million for the six months period last year to BD12.69 million for the same period this year largely due to expanding business requirements.

No major credit deterioration was observed and therefore no impairment provision for loans were made during the period.

Loans and advances at the end of first half of this year stood at BD1.153 billion compared to BD1.068 billion for the same period last year, reflecting a growth of 7.9 per cent.

Loans and advances increased by BD57.51 million during the first six months of the year, which demonstrates the bank's commitment to the development of the active sectors of the local economy.

Due to the bank's focus on increasing core business, customer deposits as at June 30 this year stood at BD1.433 billion, compared to BD1.369 billion for the same period last year.

The bank's investment securities portfolio as at June 30 this year was BD376.21 million compared to BD380.56 million as at June 30 last year.

The bank's results reflected an improved return to the shareholders with an annualised return on average equity of 23.6 per cent during the first half of this year compared to 20.7 per cent in the same period last year. – TradeArabia News Service