ABC Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation, has announced a net profit of $3.2 million for the first quarter compared to $1.6 million last year.

The Islamic lender's total operating income for the first quarter rose to $4.1 million from $3.4 million last year. The operating expenses decreased to $0.8 million compared to $1.3 million for the same quarter last year.

The shareholders’ equity at March 31, 2013 stood at $239.2 million, compared to $236 million at 2012 year-end, said the bank in its statement.

Commenting on the results, Naveed Khan, the managing director of ABC Islamic Bank said, "The financial results for the start of the year are encouraging. The growth in operating income has come from a steady quality portfolio, supported by an increase in fee and commission income earned through leading syndicated transactions for customers in core target market countries."

"Improved efficiency has also resulted in lower operating expenses.We are hopeful that the rest of the year will see resumed balance sheet growth from an active deals pipeline," stated Khan.
 
According to him, the bank’s capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 27.1 per cent, predominantly Tier 1, which totalled 26.8 per cent.

ABC Islamic Bank’s total assets stood at $1.073 billion at the end of the first quarter compared to $1.067 billion at 2012 year-end.-TradeArabia News Service