Last checked at 29 Jul 2010 12:25
BankMuscat achieves RO 47 million net profit, board approves H1'10 results
MUSCAT, 29 July 2010 - BankMuscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, on Thursday (29 July 2010) announced the financial results, approved by the board of directors, for the six-month period ending 30 June 2010.
The Bank achieved a net profit of RO 47 million for first half of 2010 compared to RO 60.4 million reported during the same period in 2009. Net profit for H1'09 included RO 53.2 million of post-tax gain on sale of HDFC Bank investment, RO 9.4 million losses on available-for-sale investment portfolio and RO 25 million of credit losses towards Saudi branch exposures. Excluding these one-off items, the adjusted net profit for H1'09 was RO 41.6 million. Thus, on a like to like comparison, the net profit for H1'10 showed an increase of 13 per cent over H1'09.
AbdulMalik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Chairman of BankMuscat, said: "The key business lines of the Bank recorded encouraging performance during the period in question and pressed ahead amid the challenging situation to reach higher levels of excellence."
The Bank's net interest income increased by 6 per cent to RO 88.1 million during H1'10 from RO 83.3 million reported during the corresponding period in 2009. Non-interest income was higher by 8 per cent compared to H1'09, excluding the gain on HDFC Bank investment and realised losses on Available-for-Sale investment. Operating expenses for H1'10 at RO 49.4 million increased by 16.5 per cent as compared to the same period in 2009. The increase in operating expenses was attributable to the long-term vision and strategy to develop the banking infrastructure to provide better service and maintain the leadership position.
Impairment for credit losses for the six-month period in 2010 was RO 20.7 million as against RO 51.5 million in H1'09. Recoveries from impairment for credit losses was RO 6.7 million during H1'10 as against RO 4.9 million in H1'09. Share of loss from associates was RO 3.4 million in H1'10 as against RO 4.7 million in H1'09. Share of loss of RO 3.4 million was mainly due to BMI Bank net loss in the 2nd quarter due to higher credit losses which included both specific and collective provisions.
Gross loans and advances increased marginally by 2 per cent to RO 4,058 million as against RO 3,988 million as at June 30, 2009. Customer deposits, including CDs, increased by 11 per cent to RO 3,560 million as against RO 3,214 million as at June 30, 2009. Savings deposits witnessed a growth of 8 per cent from RO 767 million as at 30 June 2009 to RO 831 million as at 30 June 2010. Whereas the current and call account grew by 25 per cent from RO 928 million as at 30 June 2009 to RO 1,164 million as at 30 June 2010. The Bank continued to focus on savings and demand deposits to improve the net interest margin.