Arab Bank Group H1 profit grows by 38%

AMMAN — Arab Bank Group reported a net income after tax for the first half of 2022 $252 million compared with $182.4 million for the same period last year, recording a 38 per cent increase, according to a statement.

The group loan portfolio grew by 6 per cent to reach $35.7 billion at the end of June compared with $33.8 billion for the same period last year while customer deposits grew by 2 per cent to reach $47.1 billion compared with $46 billion for the same period last year, according to the group statement.

The increase in loans and deposits in most areas of operations are in line with the bank’s sustainable growth strategy to expand and diversify its clients, loans and deposit base. 

Moreover, the group maintained its strong capital base with a total equity of $10.2 billion.

In the statement, Sabih Masri, chairman of the board of directors, said, “the performance in the first half of the year reflects the group’s prudent operating policies and strong financial position, despite challenging economic environment”.

The bank’s chief executive officer, Randa Sadik said the underlying performance of the group continues on its growth path with 6 per cent growth in its net operating income across the bank’s lines of business, driven by improvement in both net interest income and commission income by 4 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.

The group’s liquidity remains strong where loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 75.9 per cent and asset quality remains high with credit provisions held against non-performing loans continuing to exceed 100 per cent, she added.

The Arab Bank has continued its digital transformation journey which is a major pillar in the bank’s strategy, providing a comprehensive range of banking solutions and services that cater to the evolving banking needs of its customers. It has recently released pioneer applications in Jordan, including “Arabi Next” application; targeting small and medium enterprises and “Arabi Junior” application; targeting children and teens. This is in addition to Arab Bank’s ongoing updates to “Reflect”, the first Neobank in Jordan, as part of the bank’s constant efforts to deploy the latest digital banking technologies, according to the statement.

Arab Bank was named “Best Bank in the Middle East 2022” for the 7th consecutive year by New York-based international publication “Global Finance”.