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Ahli United posts $403m net profit for H1

Manama, July 30, 2013

Ahli United Bank (AUB) yesterday reported a net profit of $403 million for the first half of this year, up 9.9 per cent from the net profit of $190.1 million recorded during the same period of 2012.

This included an exceptional gain of $212.9 million on the divestiture of its 29.4 per cent stake in Ahli Bank Qatar, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Earnings per share were 7.4 cents, compared with 3.2 cents earlier. The resultant adjusted operating basic earnings per share was 3.5 cents excluding the exceptional gain.

Profit for the second quarter of this year was $93.2 million, a 7.7 per cent increase over the $86.5 million profit in the second quarter last year.

For the half-year period, operating income of the group increased 3.3 per cent from $435.6 million to $450.1 million, driven largely by a 9.4 per cent growth in net interest income (NII) to $335.8 million, compared with $306.9 million last time.

Fee income over the period grew from $64 million to $70.3 million.

The NII increase was achieved through a more effective management of funding costs and prudent increase in asset volumes within acceptable risk criteria.

The cost income ratio was contained at 30.3 per cent, as against 29.8 per cent for first half last year.

The group's total assets rose by $1.5 billion, more than 5 per cent, to $31.4 billion since December 31 last year.

During this period, the group's asset liability management focused on enhancing its overall core interest earnings by raising additional customer deposits of $2.7 billion, 14.9 per cent higher to $20.9 billion as on June 30 this year.

Surplus liquidity was used to reduce repo borrowings by $1.3 billion.

On the assets front, the loans portfolio was prudently managed with a growth of $0.5 billion or 3.4 per cent.

The specific provision coverage ratio on June 30 stood at 88.1 per cent, against 87.7 per cent on December 31 last year.

The total provision coverage ratio, inclusive of collective impairment provisions, was 147 per cent on June 30, against 150 per cent on December 31.

The group's operating return on average equity for the first half this year, excluding the exceptional gain, stood at 14 per cent, compared with 13.1 per cent achieved in the first half last year.

Return on average assets, on the same basis, was higher at 1.4 per cent for the first half this year when compared with 1.3 per cent for the same period last year.

"The main highlight of the first half was the continuing healthy growth trend in our operating net profits which grew by around 10 per cent reflecting the strength and diversification of the business model," AUB chairman Fahad Al Rajaan said.

"Building a stronger regional banking platform is integral to our business model which is focused on meeting the local and cross-border needs of our clients in a focused, effective and dynamic manner," he added. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Ahli United Bank | AUB | profits |

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