Bank of Sharjah reports 9% growth in net profit to Dh277 million

Dubai

Bank of Sharjah reported a 9 per cent growth in net profits to Dh277 million in 2012 compared to Dh254 million recorded in 2011.

Total Assets grew 9 per cent to Dh22.85 billion, up from Dh20.93 billion in 2011. The bank’s total deposit increased 10 per cent to Dh16.47 billion in 2012, over Dh14.94 billion in 2011 while loans and advances increased 4 per cent to Dh12,47 billion, compared to Dh12.03 billion in 2011.

Earnings per share for the year gained 20 per cent and reached 13.5 fils compared to 11.2 fils in 2011.

“The continued increase in deposits over loans and advances has enhanced the loans-to-deposits ratio which further improved during the year to 0.76 in December 2012 from 0.81 in December 2011. This led to the 26 per cent surge in net liquidity which reached Dh6 billion by the end of 2012 compared to Dh4.8 billion at the end of 2011,” the lender said in a statement on Thursday.

“The 6 per cent decline in net interest income was mainly driven by the 10% increase in deposits, in addition to the excess liquidity which is placed at extremely low interbank interest rates.”

The 11 per cent increase in non interest income was driven by the improvement witnessed in the financial markets during the last quarter of the year, it said.

The collective impairment provision for the 2012 year has declined against a backdrop of an improved economic environment and the overall performance of the credit portfolio. “During the year, the Bank has set aside Dh115 million of such provisions, raising the Bank’s cumulative balance of collective impairment provision to Dh658 million,” it said.

Varouj Nerguizian, the Bank’s Executive Director and General Manager, said: “The 2012 results affirmed the solid structure of the Bank’s balance sheet. The Bank’s ample liquidity in addition to its expansion strategy will competitively position the Bank and allow it to take full advantage of the positive developments in the economical scene of the UAE. The real potential of Bank of Sharjah will be revealed by a number of positive developments in strategic investments during 2013-2014.”