Arab Bank Group continued to achieve robust results during 2016, reporting net profit after tax and provisions for the period ending September 2016 of $617.9 million, compared to $615.1 million in the same period last year.

The group’s net profit before tax was $815.8 million. The bank maintains a healthy capital base with shareholders equity standing at $8.3 billion, said a statement.

The bank’s balance sheet remains strong with loans and advances growing 3 per cent to reach $24.4 billion vs $23.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Customer deposits grew by 2 per cent to reach $35.5 billion compared to $34.8 billion for the same period last year. Excluding the effect of foreign currency devaluations, both loans and customer deposits grew by 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

Sabih Masri, Arab Bank’s chairman, said the group continues to maintain its strong financial position and to effectively manage risks. The bank succeeded in delivering sustained growth benefiting from its diversified business model.

He further added: “The bank’s solid financial performance during the first nine months reaffirms the bank’s progress in implementing its prudent business strategy and its ability to deal with the challenging circumstances.”

Nemeh Sabbagh, Arab Bank’s CEO, added that the bank’s financial priorities remain focused on ensuring sustainable growth, driven by the strength of our core businesses.

The financial results show an improvement in the group’s performance as the efficiency ratio (operating expenses to operating revenue) improved from 40.7 per cent last year to 39.6 per cent this year. Sabbagh further underscored that the bank continues to maintain solid liquidity, as the loan to deposit ratio stood at 68.8 per cent. The bank also maintained the high quality of its credit portfolio with the provisions coverage ratio for non-performing loans in excess of 108 per cent, excluding the value of collaterals held.  – TradeArabia News Service