Jordan's largest lender, Arab Bank Group, said it has registered a net profit of $352 million in 2012, up 15 per cent over $350 million the previous year on the back of higher revenues.

One of the Middle East's major financial institutions, Arab Bank saw its deposits increase by $1.2 billion to $32.9 billion against $31.7 billion at end of 2011.

The bank’s net operating income during the year grew by 8 per cent as a result of a healthy increase net interest income and maintaining expenses under control.

Sabih Masri, the chairman of the board of directors, said that he was pleased with these good results against the backdrop of a challenging political and economic environment, noting that this comes as a result of the Bank’s prudent risk management policies and practices.

Masri said the board of directors will recommend to the General Assembly to distribute dividends of 30 per cent for 2012 as compared to 25 per cent in 2011 and 20 per cent in 2010.

According to the chairman, a conservative policy eased the impact of political upheaval across the Arab region.

Commenting on the results, CEO Nemeh Sabbagh said the bank has continued its prudent policies with regards to its asset quality, and has in that respect, fully provided for the exposures of Saad and AlGosaibi, and has increased the provisioning coverage on all non performing loans to reach in excess of 100 per cent, excluding the value of collaterals held.

Sabbag stressed the importance of maintaining high levels of liquidity which, he said, "has been and continues to be a strong hallmark of the bank as well as maintaining a strong capital base."

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio at the end of the year stood at a healthy 15.09 per cent, he added.-Reuters and TradeArabia News Service