UAE-based Mashreq Bank, one of the region's leading financial institutions, has reported a net profit of Dh1.3 billion ($353 million) for last year, a 60 per cent over 2011.

The bank's total operating income for last year was 4.1 billion dirhams, representing a 5.5 per cent increase over 2011, while operating income for fourth quarter of 2012 increased by 10.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 1.1 billion dirhams, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News.

As compared to the corresponding previous quarter, operating income grew by 29.4 per cent.

The annual increase is on the back of fee income and investment income.

Net fee and commission income recorded a growth of 20.8 per cent as compared to 2011, while investment income for last year climbed by 131.6 per cent.

Mashreq's best-in-class net fee, commission and other income to operating income ratio further improved from 49.8 per cent in 2011 to a high of 53.4 per cent last year.

General and administrative expenses for last year increased by 3.4 per cent over 2011 to 1.9 billion dirhams.

Earnings per share increased from 4.85 dirhams in 2011 to 7.76 dirhams last year.

The board has proposed a cash dividend of 38 per cent.

"The results once again demonstrate the tremendous success achieved by our long term strategy of commitment to customer centricity and staying at the leading edge of banking innovation," the bank's chief executive Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair said.

Mashreq's total assets witnessed a moderate decline of 3.6 per cent, reaching 76.4 billion dirhams compared to 79.2 billion dirhams at the end of 2011.

Liquid assets to total assets stood at 27 per cent at the end of last year, with cash and due from banks at 20.9 billion dirhams.

Loans and advances grew by 9.9 per cent last year to 41.4 billion dirhams at the year-end, compared to 37.7 billion dirhams at the end of 2011.

During last year, the bank grew its deposit base leading to a 4.5 per cent increase in customer deposits compared to 2011, reaching 47.5 billion dirhams.

A higher growth in loans versus deposits led to an optimum level of loan-to-deposit ratio of 87 per cent in December 2012, and loan-to-total asset ratio improved from 48 per cent to 54 per cent. – TradeArabia News Service