MANAMA — National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) on Tuesday announced another period of continued growth reporting a net profit of BHD 40.0 million ($106.4 million) and an operating profit of BHD 44.7 million ($118.9 million) for the first six months of the year ended 30 June 2019, an increase of 8.7% and 17.3% respectively compared to a net profit of BHD 36.8 million ($97.9 million) and an operating profit of BHD 38.1 million ($101.3 million) in the prior year period. This was achieved despite provisions of BHD 4.7 million, which were more than double the provision amount in the corresponding period in 2018. For the second quarter of 2019, the Bank’s net profit increased by 14.6% to BHD 19.6 million ($52.1 million) compared to BHD 17.1 million ($45.5 million) in the second quarter of 2018.

Operating profit rose by 17.3% y-o-y to BHD 44.7 million ($118.9 million) compared with BHD 38.1 million ($101.3 million) in the prior-year period. For the second quarter of 2019, it rose by 17.2% to BHD 21.1 million ($56.1 million) compared with BHD 18.0 million ($47.9 million) in the second quarter of 2018.

Operating income rose by 12.2% y-o-y to BHD 66.2 million ($176.1 million) compared with BHD 59.0 million ($156.9 million) in the prior-year period. For the second quarter of 2019, it rose by 10.7% to BHD 32.0 million ($85.1 million) compared with BHD 28.9 million

Net interest income increased by 16.8% y-o-y to BHD 48.0 million ($127.7 million) compared with BHD 41.1 million ($109.3 million) in the prior-year period. Improvements were driven by prudent asset liabilities management and the acquisition of new customers from various sectors across the Bank’s business lines during the first half of the year. For the second quarter of 2019, an increase of 12.6% to BHD 24.2 million ($64.4 million) was reported compared with BHD 21.5 million ($57.2 million) in the prior-year-period.

Other income rose by 1.7% y-o-y to BHD 18.2 million ($48.4 million) compared with BHD 17.9 million ($47.6 million) in the prior-year period. For the second quarter of 2019, it rose by 5.4% to BHD 7.8 million ($20.7 million) compared with BHD 7.4 million ($19.7 million) in the second quarter of last year.

Operating costs were up to BHD 21.5 million ($57.2 million) compared to BHD 20.9 million ($55.6 million), an increase of 2.9% which is in line with the ongoing investments in human capital and technology to support the Bank’s transformation strategy. Cost-to-income ratio was 32.5%, which nevertheless remains well in line with industry norms. For the second quarter of 2019, operating costs stood at the same level of BHD 10.9 million ($29.0 million) compared to the second quarter of 2018.

Total comprehensive income for the period was BHD 44.5 million ($118.4 million) compared with BHD 14.4 million ($38.3 million) in the prior-year period. For the second quarter of 2019, it rose to BHD 18.8 million ($50.0 million) compared with BHD 4.3 million ($11.4 million) in the second quarter of last year.

Total earning assets increased by 4.7% to BHD 3,012.1 million ($8,010.9 million) compared with BHD 2,876.1 million ($7,649.2 million) as at 30 June 2018.

Average loans and advances increased by 6.9% to BHD 1,230.5 million ($3,272.6 million) compared with BHD 1,150.6 million ($3,060.1 million) in the prior-year period.

Average customer deposits remained steady at BHD 2,108.8 million ($5,608.5 million).

Total equity grew by 14.6% to BHD 486.4 million ($1,293.6 million) compared with BHD 424.3 million ($1,128.5 million) as at 30 June 2018.

Earnings per share during the period increased by 8.3% to 26 fils ($69 cents) compared with 24 fils ($64 cents) in the prior-year period.

Farouk Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed, Chairman of NBB, said, “NBB continued to deliver strong growth and performance throughout the first half of 2019. Record results once again reflect the ongoing success of our strategy and the achievements made in transforming the bank with a focus on modernization and further diversification and digitalization of the business. Continued expansion and income generation from our core banking activities drove strong gains in operating profit with another significant increase of 17.3% reported for the first half of the year. With the new brand identity launched during the first quarter, we have also gone on to introduce our new branch concepts for the future. During the second quarter of 2019, we opened our flagship Seef Mall branch, which embodies the enhanced customer journey we aim to provide across all of our network, which remains the largest and most robust in Bahrain. The second quarter also saw NBB named by Euromoney as Best Bank in Bahrain, an honor awarded to us in recognition of our continued market leadership and the impressive growth, profitability and innovation that our strategy continues to deliver. We are extremely proud of these achievements and of the hard work and dedication of our management and employees. In the second half of the year, we will build on this momentum and are confident that we will achieve continued growth and even greater value creation of our shareholders, customers and community as we work to get closer to all our stakeholders.”

Jean-Christophe Durand, Chief Executive Officer of NBB, added “record profitability and results for the first half of 2019 reflect the success of the transformation underway at NBB. Consistent top and bottom line growth demonstrates that our strategy is working and that our customers and the market are seeing and responding positively to the new and innovative approach, which firmly puts both the customers and the economy at the center of our journey. Gains in operating income and profits during the period were the result of further business expansion and growth as well as the prudent management of costs. Keeping this balance remains essential to achieving our objectives and ensures we are able to continue investing in innovation and grow in a market that demands we stay at the forefront.” — SG