Bank of Sharjah, a leading bank in the UAE, has registered a net profit of Dh353 million ($96 million) in 2013, up 27 per cent compared to Dh277 million the previous year.

The bank's total total assets surged nine per cent to hit Dh24.9 billion, 9 per cent above Dh22.8 billion the previous year.

The Bank continued to grow its deposit base, which reached Dh18.3 billion as of December 31, 2013, up 12 per cent compared to Dh16.4 billion the year before.

Loans and advances reached Dh13.1 billion, thus registering a six per cent growth compared to Dh12.4 billion in 2012, said the Bank of Sharjah in its statement.

The continued increase in deposits over loans and advances has enhanced the loans-to-deposits ratio which further improved during the year to 71 per cent in December 2013 from 76 per cent in December 2012.

This led to the 23 per cent surge in net liquidity, which reached Dh7.4 billion by the end of 2013, compared to Dh6 billion at the end of 2012, the statement added.

The UAE bank said its operating income for the year reached Dh610 million, 23 per cent over Dh495 million the previous year, mainly driven by the increase in non-interest income, resulting from the increase in investment revenues.-TradeArabia News Service