Kuwait Islamic lender KFH's Q2 net profit up 22%

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the country's biggest Islamic lender, reported on Wednesday a 22 percent rise in second quarter net profit, beating expectations.

The lender made a net profit of $138.4 million in the second quarter, up from $113.3 million in the year earlier period, KFH said in a statement on the bourse website.

Net income in the first half of the year was $245.3 million, it said.

Analysts at EFG-Hermes had expected KFH to post a net profit of $110.3 million in the second quarter, according to a Reuters survey.

Independent analyst Hajjaj BuKhadour said the improvement "does not reflect the operational results which show that loans and credit operations were down".

The lender's chairman, Bader al Mukhaizeem, said in a statement that financing transactions reached $1.55 billion during the first half of this year. He did not provide an explanation for the second quarter profit increase. (Reuters)