Manama: Bank ABC Islamic yesterday announced its net profit for the first quarter this year was $4.4 million.
It is 27 per cent lower when compared with the record profit of $6.1m reported for the same period last year. The bank said the record profit for the first quarter last year was mainly due to a one-off.
Its profit figure for the first quarter this year compares favourably (higher by 22pc) with that for the fourth quarter last year which was $3.6m.
Total margin income for the quarter was $5.1m, as against $5.2m reported in the first quarter of last year.
Fee, commission and sale of investments were lower by $1.4m this year due to the same one-off last year.
Operating expenses were marginally higher at $1.7m, compared with $1.6m for the same period last year.
Shareholders’ equity as of March 31 was $288m, as against $283m at last year’s end.
The bank’s capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 28.5pc.
Bank ABC Islamic’s total assets stood at $1.361 billion at the end of the first quarter compared with $1.344bn at 2015 year-end.
“The first quarter of the year has been a challenging one, as the regional economic slowdown required proactive de-risking of the bank’s balance sheet, with prudent pruning in the contracting and real-estate sectors,” ABC Islamic Bank managing director Naveed Khan said.
“Despite such pre-emptive measures the bank retained similar margin income levels as 2015 with only a marginal increase in expenses.
“While the economic outlook for the region remains subdued, we take some comfort that the pro-active steps taken for de-risking will result in a stable asset portfolio,” he said.
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