Arab Bank Group, the largest Jordanian financial institution in terms of assets, equity, and banking market share, has reported a pre-tax net profit of $739.1 million for the period ended on September 30 compared to the same period last year.

The group's after tax net income grew by 15.4 per cent to $559.1million when compared with the level for the same period last year.

The bank also saw an increase in loans and advances by 6 per cent to $23.2 billion compared to $21.9 billion on September 30 last year.

Customer deposits increased by 2 per cent to $33 billion compared to $32.4 billion for the same period last year.

Arab Bank chairman Sabih Masri said the results reaffirmed the bank's ability to continue positive performance throughout the year.

Despite the challenging regional climate and fluctuations in major currencies, the bank maintained the quality of its credit portfolio while achieving growth rates in operating income.

The bank's chief executive Nemeh Sabbagh said the growth in net operating income was a result of the increase in net interest income and a decrease in operating expenses as well as a decrease in provisions compared to last year.

Sabbagh added the results reflect an improvement in the group's performance with the efficiency ratio (operating expenses versus operating revenue) reaching 40.4 per cent compared to 41.6 per cent for the same period last year.

The bank continues to maintain comfortable liquidity ratios as a strategic goal.

Accordingly, the loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 63.8 per cent and the group's capital adequacy ratio was 14.67 per cent, well above the minimum required by the Central Bank of Jordan.

Masri said that these financial results demonstrate the bank’s ability to deal with the emerging circumstances and developments relying primarily on prudent policies and sound banking and credit fundamentals.
 
He expressed his full confidence in the Bank and its ability to continue achieving further successes and reinforcing its financial position based on the implementation of effective measures and strategies.-TradeArabia News Service