Ahli United Bank (AUB) has reported a net profit of $262.5 million for the half year ended June 30.

This reflected an increase of 38.1 per cent over the core net profit of $190.1 million achieved in H1/2013, a statement said.

“AUB’s focus on its major operating markets and its strong drive and commitment to expand its cross border business flows between these markets have been instrumental in achieving very strong growth in core operating revenues across its business lines,” said Fahad Al-Rajaan, chairman, AUB.

The overall H1/2013 result of $403.0 million included an exceptional non-recurring gain of $212.9 million from the sale of its 29.4 per cent stake in its Qatari affiliate, it said.

The net profit achieved during Q2/2014 was $125.9 million, a 35.1 per cent increase over the Q2/2013 reported profit of $93.2 million.

The basic earnings per share in H1/2014 were 4.4 cents, compared to basic earnings per share of 3.3 cents.

The operating results of AUB were primarily driven by growth in its core operating earnings across its major markets. The main contributing factor was the improvement in the net interest margins achieved through a combination of prudent deployment of funds in risk assets and an effective strategy for the management of funding costs, the company said.

This resulted in a 13.7 per cent increase in net interest income from $335.8 million to $381.7 million. Diversified business flows and successful client acquisition initiatives contributed to an 11.7 per cent growth in fee income from $70.3 million to $78.5 million, it said.

The YTD H1/2014 cost income ratio improved to 27.8 per cent (YTD H1/2013: 30.3 per cent) which was contributed by a surge in operating revenues and the continued successful implementation of the AUB Group’s disciplined cost culture, it said.

The group’s total assets rose to $33.9 billion, up 3.7 per cent since 31 December 2013, driven by a $1.3 billion (up 7.6 per cent) increase in the loan portfolio that reached $18.6 billion by June 30, 2014.

The growth in loan and advances to $23.1 billion as on June 30, 2014 was mainly funded by an increase in customers’ deposits. – TradeArabia News Service