ABC Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation, said its net profit for the first quarter rose 66 per cent to hit $3 million compared to $1.8 million last year.

Announcing the results on Tuesday, ABC Islamic said the bank's total operating income for the first quarter was $4.8 million, compared to $3.9 million for the same period last year.

Operating expenses increased to $1.8 million, compared with $1.4 million for the same period of last year, mainly due to a timing recognition of staff expenses related to compensation for last year.

The bank's shareholders’ equity as of March 31, 2011 stood at $222.7 million compared to $219.8 million at 2010 year end. The bank’s capital base remains strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 23.5 per cent, and a Tier 1 ratio of 23.1 per cent.

ABC Islamic Bank’s total assets also grew marginally to $1.249 billion at the end of the first quarter compared to $1.241 billion at year-end 2010.

Commenting on the results, Naveed Khan, managing director of ABC Islamic Bank said, ”Despite turbulent times in the region we are off to a good start for the year. Core operating profitability has been consistently improving despite the one-off anomaly of increased expenses attributable to last year.'

'This year promises to be a challenging one as the markets have been confronted now with regional developments after a prolonged period of a global economic recession,' remarked Khan.

'We are confident however that ABC Islamic Bank, well supported by the ABC Group, will rise above these challenges as Islamic banking continues to find favour and grow strongly in the Arab World, he added.-TradeArabia News Service