Bank of Palestine (BoP), the country's largest bank, has reported $31.6 million profit for the first nine months, up 14 per cent compared to $27.7 million last year.

At the end of September 2011, Bank of Palestine's total assets surged to $1.54 billion - maintaining the top spot as the largest Palestinian company in terms of financial assets. Its total shareholders' equity reached $189.3 million and paid-up capital also increased by 20 per cent to reach $120,000,000.

During this period, the bank's deposits reached $1.19 billion and the credit facilities' portfolio touched $680,107,163 compared to $545,026,391 at the end of 2010 registering an increase of 24 per cent.

Commenting on the record performance, Hashim Shawa, BoP chairman and general manager, said, 'These impressive financial results confirm the continuous growth of the bank, and are a result of our expansion and proliferation.'

'Bank of Palestine continues to enjoy the widest banking presence in Palestine with 46 branches,' he noted.

The bank has also upped its effort to reach new customers not only in Palestine, but also outside the country, by establishing a dedicated Diaspora Unit, aimed at reaching out to Palestinians in the Diaspora to provide them with banking and business advisory services.

During the last few months, the bank also expanded the services it provides to its customers, by introducing new diversified products such as Bancassurance.

During 2011, the bank established PalPay, a subsidiary company that provides electronic payment solutions, to enable the payment of different utility bills through the bank's Point of Sale network spread throughout Palestine.'

Shawa also attributed the strong performance to the bank's conservative approach, which helped it weather several regional and internationalcrises, as well as BoP's strong corporate governance and sound risk management.

During 2011, Bank of Palestine began the implementation of the second phase of the Operational Risk Management project in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), paving the way to becoming the first bank in Palestine to implement 'Basel II' standards.-TradeArabia News Service