Arab Bank Group announced in a Saturday press release that it achieved a $360.3 million net profit after tax and provisions during the first half of this year compared with $327.2 million during the same period of 2011. Chairman Abdel Hamid Shoman attributed the 10 per cent growth in net income to a healthy increase in net interest earnings, gains from financial assets as well as lower provisions on doubtful debts. “The sustained growth in operating revenues reflects the bank’s underlying strength and its ability to take advantage of its diversified global network,” Shoman said in the press statement. Arab Bank Group also managed to maintain its loan portfolio at $22.2 billion at the end of June 2012 and to grow its customer deposits to $32.1 billion.   “The growth in the rate of the customer deposits would have been greater had it not been for the decline in the exchange rate of certain major currencies against the US dollar,” the bank noted. According to Chief Executive Officer Nemeh Sabbagh, the group continues to maintain a high quality loan portfolio and a provisions coverage ratio for non-performing loans of 100 per cent as of June 30, 2012. He indicated that the group’s capital adequacy ratio stands at 14.81 per cent which is higher than the minimum 12 per cent required by the Central Bank of Jordan and well above the 8 per cent minimum required by Basel Committee. “Liquidity, always a strong hallmark of the bank, continues to be very strong as reflected in the loan deposit ratio of 69.2 per cent,” the press release showed, noting that the bank was able to grow its operating revenues and at the same time to control its expenses which grew by only one per cent. Shoman described these results as testimony to the bank’s success in dealing with the challenging regional and international environment. and to the bank’s conservative and prudent policies. In confirming the bank’s financial standing, Fitch last week affirmed the rating of Arab Bank at A- with a stable outlook. From: The Jordan Times