Bank of Sharjah Q1 profit surges 45%

The Bank of Sharjah's non-interest income increased by 92 per cent due to better market performance in Q1 2018.

The Bank of Sharjah on Monday announced that net profit for the period ended March 31, 2018, reached Dh84 million, against Dh58 million for the same period in 2017, an increase of 45 per cent.

Earnings per share for the period were up by 51 per cent and reached 3.99 fils compared to 2.64 fils in 2017. Net interest income decreased by 9 per cent compared to the corresponding figure for the same period of 2017, while non-interest income increased by 92 per cent due to better market performance. Operating income increased by 11 per cent. The net operating income reached Dh165 million, compared to Dh132 million for the same period of 2017, an increase of 25 per cent.

Total comprehensive income for the period increased by 198 per cent to Dh134 million, versus Dh45 million for the same period in 2017. This was due to an upturn in the market value of investments and a positive effect from change in fair value of issued bonds.

The bank's total assets reached Dh29.9 billion, a decrease of 2 per cent over the corresponding December 31, 2017, figure of Dh30.5 billion. Loans and advances reached Dh16.66 billion, 5 per cent below the corresponding figure of Dh17.48 billion as at December 31, 2017. Customers' deposits reached Dh21.04 billion, a 3 per cent decrease over the corresponding December 31, 2017 balance of Dh21.63 billion.

Total equity as at March 31, 2018 stood at Dh3.92 billion, a decrease of 4 per cent compared to Dh4.07 billion for the corresponding year of 2017. This was mainly due to the adoption of IFRS 9 "Expected credit losses" impact on retained earnings. Net liquidity reached Dh7.4 billion as at March 31, 2018, a decrease of six per cent compared to the 2017 year figure of Dh7.87 billion.

- business@khaleejtimes.com