Bank of Sharjah, a leading bank in the UAE, has registered a slight drop in its first quarter net profit which fell to  Dh81 million ($22.1 million) from Dh85 million ($23 million) last year.

Announcing the financial results for the three months ended March 31, the Sharjah lender said during the period, the bank continued to grow its loan book while maintaining the solid structure of the balance sheet, with high levels of both liquidity and capital.

Owing to a drop in the net profit, the earnings per share for the period fell by 10 per cent and reached 3.7 fils compared to 4.1 fils in 2015.

The total assets reached Dh27.6 billion, up six per cent over Dh26.1 billion for the same period last year. When compared to the 31 December 2015 figure, the total assets remained at the same level.

Customers’ deposits surged three per cent to Dh19.3 billion over the corresponding ch 2015 figure of Dh18,746 million.

Net Liquidity remains high compared to industry levels at Dh6.79 billion as at 31 March 2016, up six per cent compared to the same period of 2015 at Dh6.39 billion, and nine per cent less than December 31, 2015 balance of Dh7.46 billion, it stated.

Bank of Sharjah said the net interest income fell slightly by two per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2015, while non-interest income surged by 29 per cent which was reflected in an eight per cent increase in the net operating income to reach Dh157 million in 2016 compared to Dh146 million in the same period of 2015.

The capital adequacy ratio kept its strong level and stood at a high of 21.13 per cent in 2016.-TradeArabia News Service