Kuwait’s NBK profits outstrip expectations

Dubai: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) reported a 3.2 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Sunday, edging ahead of analysts’ expectations.

Net profit was 83.9 million dinars ($298.6 million, Dh1.09 billion) in the three months to the end of March, compared to 81.3 million dinars a year ago, it said in a bourse filing.

NBK, which opened a new office in Dubai in March, saw its international banking profit grow 15.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Group chief executive officer Essam Al Sager said the bank would maintain a strategy focused on diversification, international expansion and a stronger push into Islamic finance.