The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) said that it had recorded a net Profit of BD14.83 for the first quarter of 2013 compared to BD 14.11 million for the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 5.1%.
The financial results were approved at the board meeting held on 9th April 2013 chaired by the Bank’s Chairman Farouk Yusuf Khalil Al-Moayyed. Expressing his satisfaction on the results achieved by the Bank, Al-Moayyed reiterated the bank’s commitment to contribute to the economic development of the Kingdom and appreciated the efforts of the Bank’s executive management team and the employees for their dedication.
“The steady growth in profitability is a result of the Bank’s constant endeavor to realign its business strategies by leveraging on our core strengths while meeting customer expectations. We hope the overall economic conditions both in Bahrain and the region improves in the coming quarters and the Bank is well position to capitalize on emerging opportunities to further enhance our leadership position,” Abdul-Razzak Abdullah Hassan Al-Qassim, Chief Executive Officer and Director said.
The net interest income for the three months period in 2013 was BD14.21 million compared to BD15.92 million for the corresponding period of the previous year, the decrease largely on account of lack of quality lending opportunities and reduced returns on surplus liquidity due to low short term interest rates. Other income for the three months period in 2013 was BD9.04 million compared to BD9.16 for the corresponding period of the previous year with the growth in income from normal business activities off-set by lower dividend on the bank’s equity investments.
Operating expenses continue to be closely managed which decreased from BD7.23 million for the three months period in 2012 to BD7 million for the three months period in 2013. As a matter of prudence, the Bank took a voluntary general loan loss provision of BD1 million during the current year to further strengthen the overall financial position.
“The bank continues to make steady progress with the total earning assets (comprising of Treasury bills, Bank placements, loans and advances and Investment securities) as at 31 Mar 2013 at BD 2.481 billion compared to BD 2.321 billion as at 31 Mar 2012. Customer Deposits as at 31 Mar 2013 stood at BD 2,074.69 million compared to BD 1.920 billion as at 31 Mar 2012, an increase of 8.0%,” the bank in a statement said.
The Earnings per share for the three months of 2013 was 15.8 fils compared to 15 fils for the corresponding period of 2012.