Amman: Jordan's Housing Bank for Trade and Finance made 26.92 million dinars (Dh138.5 million) in net profits in the first quarter, up 12.6 per cent from the same period last year, unaudited results showed yesterday.
The financial statements also showed that the bank, the country's second largest lender, saw its assets almost unchanged at the end of March 2010 at 6.1 billion dinars compared to end of 2009.
Customer deposits fell 1.3 per cent to 4.37 billion dinars at end of March 2010 compared to the end of 2009. Provisions set aside for first quarter fell 12.3 per cent to 4.9 million dinars compared to the same period last year.
Most Jordanian banks had set aside higher provisions to cover possible defaults and non-performing loans by businesses and real-estate firms reeling from the impact of the global downturn on the aid-dependent economy.
Housing Bank is one of the few Jordanian banks active in global financial markets in an otherwise family-dominated banking scene that was shielded by modest risk profiles from exposure to Western markets through offering relatively plain products.
The bank has a presence in Syria, the Palestinian territories and Algeria, where it has a joint venture bank, and a branch in Bahrain. It also has representative offices in Iraq, Libya and the UAE.
Housing Bank's main shareholders are Qatar National Bank with over 35 per cent followed by Libya's Foreign Bank with a 15 per cent shareholding and Kuwait's Real Estate Investment Consortium with over 10 per cent stake.
Jordan's state pension fund also has a 15.4 per cent shareholding. Gulf Arab investors along with Jordanian businessmen own the remaining shares of the bank, which has the largest branch network in the country.
