National Bank of Oman, the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, posted a 10-percent rise in first-quarter net profit, according to a bourse statement on Thursday.
The lender made a net profit of 13.9 million rials ($36.1 million) in the three months to Mar. 31, up from 12.6 million rials in the same period last year.
Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast the firm would make a quarterly net profit of 15.7 million rials and 13.6 million rials, respectively.
The bank’s earnings were aided by a 10 percent increase in net interest income to 24.7 million rials. This helped to offset an 8 percent decline in other forms of income, which fell to 8.4 million rials.
Loans and advances stood at 2.63 billion rials as of Mar. 31, 10 percent higher year on year, with customer deposits falling 2 percent over the same period to 2.39 billion rials.
The bank had recorded a significant outflow of deposits during 2015, which analysts contributed to the impact of falling oil prices.
Follow us on
