MANAMA: Bank ABC has reported consolidated net profit, attributable to the shareholders of the parent, for the first half of 2018 at $113 million, 11 per cent higher when compared with $102m reported for the same period of the previous year.
Profit before taxation was $119m, 25pc lower compared with $158m in the first half of 2017, and normalises to a positive 6pc growth, after adjusting for effects of foreign currency hedging transactions in Banco ABC Brasil, which have an offsetting tax charge impact and other one-off non-core items.
On a headline basis, total operating income was $389m against $432m reported for the first half of last year, and normalises to 1pc growth year-on-year, after adjustment as mentioned above.
Earnings per share for the period were $0.04 compared with $0.03 in the same period of the previous year.
Operating expenses were $240m, $16m higher than the first half of 2017, due to inflation and flow through effect of investment costs.
Impairment charges for the period were $30m compared with the $50m reported for the same period last year, mainly indicating the improving market conditions in Brazil.
Impairment for the period is now computed on IFRS 9 basis covering the entire portfolio.
Ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 3.9pc compared with 2017 year-end levels of 3.5pc, and normalises to 3pc, when legacy fully provided loans are adjusted for.
Tax credit (savings) of $20m, compared with the charge of $26m for the first half of 2017 (the variance largely arising from the tax treatment of currency hedges in Banco ABC Brasil).
Effective tax charge remains at comparable levels, after adjusting for the currency impact noted above.
For the three-month period ended June 2018 (second quarter), consolidated net profit, attributable to the shareholders of the parent was $60m, 15pc higher compared with $52m in Q2-2017.
Profit before taxation for the quarter was $39m, 44pc lower compared with $70m in Q2-2017, and normalises to a positive 5pc growth, after adjusting for effects of foreign currency hedging transactions in Banco ABC Brasil, which have an offsetting tax charge impact.
On a headline basis, total operating income was $178m against $203m reported for the same period last year, and normalises to 5pc growth year-on-year, after adjustment as mentioned above.
Earnings per share for the quarter was $0.02, similar to the second quarter of the previous year.
Total assets stood at $27.9 billion at the first half of 2018, comparable to $29.5bn at the 2017 year-end, as the group continues to prioritise asset quality and returns.
Total assets also declined due to the effect of US dollar strengthening against Brazilian Real (BRL) in particular.
Deposits at the end of the period were $19.2bn, slightly lower than the $20.2bn at 2017 year-end.
Customer deposits decreased by $0.6bn during the year, also resulting from strengthening of US dollar against BRL.
Liquidity ratios were strong with LCR and NSFR on a Basel III basis exceeding 100pc with comfortable buffer and liquid assets to deposits ratio healthy at 51pc.
Capital ratios were also strong – Tier 1 16.8pc and total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) 18.1pc.
Bank ABC’s Group chairman Saddek Omar El Kaber said, “We are building on the momentum from the previous quarter, with improved growth in our net profit year-on-year.”
“The growth is backed up by stabilising credit conditions particularly in Brazil. Balance sheet and risk metrics remain strong and benchmark well against regional and international standards. We remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for the full year.”
&uuid=(email))