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Sharjah /Â WAM
Bank of Sharjah on Wednesday announced its financial results for the three months ending March 31. The bank’s total assets reached AED 28,880 million, an increase of 4 percent over the corresponding 31st March 2016 figure of AED 27,651 million. When compared to the 31 December 2016 figure, total assets increased by 7 percent from AED 27,097 million.
Customers’ Deposits reached AED18,839 million, a decrease of 2 percent over the corresponding 31st March 2016 figure of AED19,303 million. When compared to the 31 December 2016 figure, Customers’ Deposits decreased by 4 percent from AED 19,737 million.
Loans and advances reached AED 16,561 million, 8 percent above the corresponding 31st March 2016 figure of AED 15,402 million, and 3 percent less than the 31 December 2016 balance of AED 17,075 million.
Net Liquidity remains high compared to industry levels at AED 6,722 million as at 31st March 2017, 1 percent less than 31 March 2016 at AED 6,797 million and 21 percent more than 31 December 2016 balance of AED 5,542 million.
Total Equity at the end of the first quarter of 2017 stood at AED 4,640 million, 1 percent less than the 31 March 2016 balance of AED 4,694 million and 1 percent more than 31 December 2016 balance of AED 4,600 million.
Capital adequacy ratio kept its strong level and stood at a high of 21.54 percent in Q1 2017.
Net Interest Income and non-Interest Income decreased by 7 percent and 54 percent respectively compared to the corresponding period of 2016 which was reflected in a 16 percent decrease in the net operating income to reach AED132 million in the first quarter of 2017 compared to AED 157 million in the same period of 2016.
Net profits for the first quarter of 2017 reached AED 58 million, against AED81 million for the same period of 2016. As a result, earnings per share for the period were down by 30 percent and reached 2.6 fils compared to 3.7 fils in the same period of 2016.
Commenting on the results Ahmed Al Noman, Chairman of the Board, stated that the net profit was affected mainly by an AED 21 million downturn in the market value of strategic investments which is expected to be recovered during 2017. While it is too early to predict year-end figures, we expect a sustained performance to meet the budget of 2017.