Arab Bank Group has reported a net profit after tax of $218.2 million during the first quarter (Q1) of the year as compared to $218.3 million in Q1 2016.

Net operating income before provisions and taxes reached $290 million driven by growth in the underlying core banking revenue. Excluding the effect of foreign currency devaluations, the bank’s net operating income would have shown a growth of 7 per cent. Customer deposits stood at $33 billion whilst the loans and advances increased by 3 per cent to reach $24.4 billion.

Sabih Masri, chairman of the Board of Directors stated that the strong performance of Arab Bank Group confirms the success of the Group in dealing with the challenging environment.

Nemeh Sabbagh, chief executive officer, stated that Arab Bank Group enjoys high liquidity and strong capitalization. As of 31 March 2017, the Group’s loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 68.4 per cent, whilst capital adequacy ratio calculated in accordance with the new Basel III regulations reached 15.5 per cent. He added that the asset quality of the Group remains to be high, and that credit provisions held against non-performing loans continue to exceed 100 per cent, excluding the value of collaterals held.

Masri concluded by remarking that the encouraging results will continue to support the improvement in the Group’s performance to deliver a sustainable growth.

Arab Bank was named the “Best Bank in the Middle East for 2017 and 2016 by Global Finance magazine. – TradeArabia News Service