Arab Bank Group reports 2018 first quarter profit of $220.3 million

Manama : Arab Bank Group announced its results for the first quarter of 2018 reporting a net profit after tax of $220.3 million as compared to $218.2 million in 2017,

Net operating income before provisions and taxes reached $335 million and recording a double-digit growth of 15 per cent. Loans and advances grew by 5pc to reach $25.5 billion, whilst customer deposits stood at $33.4 billion.

Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors stated that the performance of Arab Bank confirms the success of the Group in generating strong results despite the backdrop of a challenging operating environment.

Nemeh Sabbagh, Chief Executive Officer, stated that the underlying performance of the Group continues on its growth path with first quarter results recording a solid 15% increase in net operating income. He added that the strong performance was driven by growth in core banking income with net interest income increasing by 12%.

Sabbagh remarked that Arab Bank Group enjoys high liquidity and strong and robust capitalization. Group’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.1% as of 31 March 2018. He added that the asset quality of the Group remains high and that credit provisions held against non-performing loans continue to exceed 100%.