Bank Muscat announced on Tuesday, July 24, that the net profits for the first half of 2001 reached $21.6 million, representing a 4.4 percent decline compared to the $22.6 million figure in the corresponding period of last year, reports AFP news agency.
In the first half of the year, the bank has made provisions of almost $13 million against possible loan losses—a 57 percent rise compared to $8.3 million for the first half of 2000. Nonetheless, the bank's loans and advances portfolio rose to $2.794 billion by the end of June—up 8.8 percent from the $2.567 billion figure recorded at the end of June 2000. Similarly, customer deposits have grown in the same period by approximately 8 percent to $2.357 billion.
The bank’s gross interest income remained constant during the first half of 2001, whereas other income rose by 21.4 percent to $14.7 million relative to 12.1 million in the corresponding period of 2000.
Total assets edged up 3.4 percent to $3.479 billion at the end of June, compared to the $3.365 billion figure by mid-June last year.
Despite the decline in net profits, the bank’s chairman, Abdul Malik bin Abdullah al-Khalili, expressed optimism with regards to profits in the second half of the year, due to the expected rise in corporate banking activities. The bank is looking into oversees expansion via mergers and acquisitions, and recently nearly finalized a deal to acquire ABN Amro's Bahrain operations. — (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
