OREANDA-NEWS. The National Bank of Bahrain recorded a Net Profit of BD 29.67 million (US\\$ 78.91 million) for the six months ended 30 June 2015 compared to BD 28.74 million (US\\$ 76.44 million) for the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 3.2 %. For the second quarter of 2015, the Bank recorded a Net Profit of BD 12.65 million (US\\$ 33.64 million) compared to BD 12.12 million (US\\$ 32.23 million) for the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 4.4 %.

The financial results were approved at the Board meeting held on 13th July 2015 chaired by the Bank’s Deputy Chairman Dr. Essam Abdulla Fakhro. Expressing his satisfaction on the results, Dr. Fakhro reiterated the Board’s commitment to continue to meet the expectations of all stakeholders. He thanked the executive management team and employees for their dedicated service and the Bank’s clients for their valued business relationship and the confidence reposed by them in the institution.

Commenting on the Bank’s performance and future outlook, Mr. Abdul Razak Abdulla Hassan Al Qassim, Chief Executive Officer & Director said, “The results for the first half of 2015 is encouraging and we have seen a positive trend in all business areas, in particular loan growth. We hope the growth momentum in the overall market will continue and our strong capital and liquidity position places us in an advantageous position to further enhance our leadership position in the domestic market.”

The Net Interest Income for the six months period in 2015 was BD 29.10 million (US\\$ 77.39 million) compared to BD 30.51 million (US\\$ 81.14 million) for the corresponding period of the previous year. The decrease is mainly due to lack of quality lending opportunities in the early part of the year and lower yield on surplus funds as a result of strong domestic liquidity. Other income for the six months period in 2015 increased by 40.1 % to reach BD 21.90 million (US\\$ 58.24 million) compared to 15.63 million (US\\$ 41.57 million) for the corresponding period of the previous year, the growth driven by increase in core banking activities, higher investment income and increased dividend on the Bank’s equity investments. Operating expenses continue to be proactively managed with the Cost to Income Ratio showing an improvement from 31.77 % in the previous year to 29.53% for the current year. The Bank took a loan loss provision of BD 6.27 million (US\\$ 16.68 million) during the current year based on an assessment of the loan portfolio and to further strengthen the overall financial position.

The core business of the Bank continues to show steady growth with the Total Earning Assets (comprising of Treasury bills, Bank placements, Loans & Advances, Investment Securities and investment in associates) as at 30 June 2015 at BD 2,731.20 million (US\\$ 7,263.83 million) compared to BD 2,718.79 million (US\\$ 7,230.82 million) as at 30 June 2014. Customer Deposits continue to show steady growth and stood at BD 2,227.68 million (US\\$ 5,924.68 million) as at 30 June 2015 compared to BD 2,177.56 million (US\\$ 5,791.38 million) as at 30 June 2014, an increase of 2.3 %.

The Earnings per share for the six months of 2015 improved to 28.6 fils compared to 27.8 fils for the corresponding period of 2014.