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Dubai / Emirates Business
Arab Bank Group continued to achieve robust results during 2016, reporting net profit after tax and provisions for the period ending September of $617.9 million, compared to USD 615.1 million in the same period last year, while the Group’s net profit before tax reached $815.8 million. The Bank maintains a healthy capital base with shareholders equity standing at USD 8.3 billion.
The bank’s balance sheet remains strong with loans and advances growing by 3% to reach $24.4 billion vs $23.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Customer deposits grew by 2% to reach USD 35.5 billion compared to USD 34.8 billion for the same period last year. Excluding the effect of foreign currency devaluations, both loans and customer deposits grew by 5% and 4%, respectively.
Sabih Masri, Arab Bank’s Chairman, commented that 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 circumstancesâ€.
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% last year to 39.6% this year. Mr. Sabbagh further underscored that the Bank continues to maintain solid liquidity, as the loan to deposit ratio stood at 68.8%. The Bank also maintained the high quality of its credit portfolio with the provisions coverage ratio for non-performing loans in excess of 108%, excluding the value of collaterals held.
Masri expressed his confidence in the Bank’s ability to continue to grow its business based on its sound strategy, and to maintain the strength of its balance sheet.
Arab Bank was named the “Best Bank in the Middle East for 2016†and the “Best Trade Finance Bank in the Middle East†by Global Finance magazine. In addition, the Bank has received the award of “Best Cash Management Services in the Middle East†from EMEA Finance and also the “Best Trade Bank in the Middle East†award from Trade & Forfaiting Review magazine. Furthermore, Arab Bank was also named the “Best Bank in Jordan†by both Global Finance and Euromoney magazines.