The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) posted a 12.1 per cent increase in net profit at BD16.62 million ($44.20 million) for the first quarter of the year, compared with BD14.83 million for the corresponding period of the previous year.

The financial results were approved at the board meeting held yesterday, under the chairmanship of Farouk Almoayyed, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"The bank achieved a strong set of financial results on account of steady growth across all business and revenue streams," director and chief executive Abdul Razak Al Qassim said.

Net interest income for the three months was BD15.57 million as against BD14.21 million for the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 9.6 per cent as a result of increase in earning assets and effective asset liability management. Other income for the period was BD9.51 million as against BD9.04 million for the corresponding period of the previous year, contributed by increase in normal business activities and higher income from equity investments.

Operating expenses increased from BD7 million during the first quarter of last year to BD7.29 million for the period under review.

"The bank continues to focus on efficiency management resulting in cost-to-income ratio improving from 30.11 per cent for the three-month period last year to 29.07 per cent this year," Mr Al Qassim said.

"As a matter of prudence, the bank took a voluntary general loan loss provision of BD0.63 million during the current year to further strengthen the overall financial position," he added.

Steady progress has been achieved in underlying business activities with total earning assets, comprising treasury bills, bank placements, loans and advances, investment securities and investment in associates, increasing from BD2,484.67 million as on March 31 last year to BD2,606.59 million as on March 31 this year.

Customer deposits as on March 31 stood at BD2,099.01 million compared with BD2,074.69 million as on March 31 last year. Earnings per share for the three months was 17.7 fils compared to 15.8 fils for the corresponding period last year. – TradeArabia News Service