Bahraini Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group made a fourth-quarter net profit of $46 million, unchanged on the same period in 2010, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The bank, which has operations in 15 countries including Turkey, Syria and Egypt, posted a full-year profit of $212 million, up 10 percent on the $193 million profit recorded in 2010.

Total assets at the bank advanced 8 percent to $17.2 billion in 2011, compared with $16 billion in the previous year.

Deposits also grew 8 percent over the course to 2011, to $14.7 billion as opposed to $13.6 billion at the end of 2010.

The bank plans to open a representative office in Libya during 2012 and was studying further expansion into Africa and Asia in the medium term, including China and India, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, the group's chief executive said in the statement.

The board of directors recommended a 3.5 percent cash dividend and a bonus share issue of one share for every six held.

The bank's Turkish subsidiary plans to go ahead with a $200 million Islamic bond issue in the first quarter, after delaying a sale in December due to pricing concerns, Yousif told Reuters in January.  - Reuters