Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group posted a 7 per cent increase in first-quarter net income, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.     

The bank, which has operations in 15 countries including Turkey, Syria and Egypt, made a profit of $57.4 million for the first-quarter, compared with $53.5 million in the first three months of 2011.     

The increase in profit came despite continuing political and economic upheaval in a number of markets in which the group operated, as well as the impact of debt issues in the euro zone, Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, chairman of Al Baraka, said.     

Total assets at the end of March stood at $17.5 billion, up 1.7 per cent from the $17.2 billion figure at the end of 2011 and 7.4 per cent higher than the $16.3 billion at the same point last year.     

Deposits at the bank were worth $15 billion at the end of Q1, up 2 per cent from $14.7 billion at the end of last year and 7.9 per cent higher than the $13.9 billion at March 31 2011.     

The bank is aiming to open 50 branches across its network in the next three years to take the total number to over 500, the statement added.     

Al Baraka is aiming for a 15 per cent growth in net profit in 2012, as well as acquiring a 75-per cent stake in an unlisted Indonesian bank this year, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, its chief executive, told Reuters in an interview in March. – Reuters