25 April 2012
MUSCAT -- Bank Sohar completed its fifth anniversary with an all-round stellar performance. The bank reported a net profit of RO 5.330 million for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012, an increase of 74.3 per cent from the previous year. Increased business volumes and customer flows propelled total income to a new high of RO 12.564 million, an increase of 26.4 per cent.
Net Interest Income witnessed a significant improvement of 19.7 per cent to RO 9.560 million. Bank Sohar focused on execution of strategic initiatives, prudent risk management and strong balance sheet enabled it to capture opportunities across the country and in the region in a challenging environment.
Return on equity rose from 11.5 per cent in 2011 to 16.66 per cent as of March 2012 (annualised).
Gross Loans increased 13.2 per cent to RO 1,078 million. Net Loans & Advances grew by 13 per cent to RO 1,056 million. Both the Corporate and Retail Sectors contributed to the growth.
Operating Expenses grew by only 2.6 per cent to RO 6.015 million as the bank leveraged on the existing headcount and infrastructure investments to support higher business volumes and future growth. The cost-income ratio was healthy at 47.88 per cent compared to 58.98 per cent in the corresponding period last year, a reduction of an unprecedented 11.1 per cent within a short span of one year. Bank Sohar's balance sheet strength remains a key differentiating factor, enabling it to gain customers' wallet share during the year.
Bank Sohar is well capitalised as a result of consistently strong earnings generation and prudent capital management. Both its Tier 1 ratio and total capital adequacy ratio are comfortably above regulatory requirements.
Liquidity remains healthy with the loan-deposit ratio at 88.7 per cent. Deposits grew 26.7 per cent during the period to RO 1,191 million, with deposit inflows bolstered by Bank Sohar's highly effective domestic deposit franchise and sound fundamentals. The bank's market share of Private Sector Credit was 8.09 per cent while the Private Sector Deposit share was 7.47 per cent as at end of February 2012.
Bank Sohar continues to be rated BBB+ (by Fitch). Bank Sohar's strengths have also enabled it to expand its wholesale funding programmes and diversify its sources of liquidity. The stellar achievements are further noteworthy as they have come in the wake of Global Economic crisis of 2008 and the Euro region crisis of 2011.0
Bank Sohar had a soft launch of its banking operations on April 9, 2007 and quickly rose to take an important part in the banking industry. Bank Sohar's cutting edge technology with differentiated customer offerings and services enabled it to make a mark for itself in the Banking Industry in Oman.
Starting from a one branch operation in 2007, Bank Sohar could quickly ramp up its network to 25 branches as of March 2012.
MUSCAT -- Bank Sohar completed its fifth anniversary with an all-round stellar performance. The bank reported a net profit of RO 5.330 million for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012, an increase of 74.3 per cent from the previous year. Increased business volumes and customer flows propelled total income to a new high of RO 12.564 million, an increase of 26.4 per cent.
Net Interest Income witnessed a significant improvement of 19.7 per cent to RO 9.560 million. Bank Sohar focused on execution of strategic initiatives, prudent risk management and strong balance sheet enabled it to capture opportunities across the country and in the region in a challenging environment.
Return on equity rose from 11.5 per cent in 2011 to 16.66 per cent as of March 2012 (annualised).
Gross Loans increased 13.2 per cent to RO 1,078 million. Net Loans & Advances grew by 13 per cent to RO 1,056 million. Both the Corporate and Retail Sectors contributed to the growth.
Operating Expenses grew by only 2.6 per cent to RO 6.015 million as the bank leveraged on the existing headcount and infrastructure investments to support higher business volumes and future growth. The cost-income ratio was healthy at 47.88 per cent compared to 58.98 per cent in the corresponding period last year, a reduction of an unprecedented 11.1 per cent within a short span of one year. Bank Sohar's balance sheet strength remains a key differentiating factor, enabling it to gain customers' wallet share during the year.
Bank Sohar is well capitalised as a result of consistently strong earnings generation and prudent capital management. Both its Tier 1 ratio and total capital adequacy ratio are comfortably above regulatory requirements.
Liquidity remains healthy with the loan-deposit ratio at 88.7 per cent. Deposits grew 26.7 per cent during the period to RO 1,191 million, with deposit inflows bolstered by Bank Sohar's highly effective domestic deposit franchise and sound fundamentals. The bank's market share of Private Sector Credit was 8.09 per cent while the Private Sector Deposit share was 7.47 per cent as at end of February 2012.
Bank Sohar continues to be rated BBB+ (by Fitch). Bank Sohar's strengths have also enabled it to expand its wholesale funding programmes and diversify its sources of liquidity. The stellar achievements are further noteworthy as they have come in the wake of Global Economic crisis of 2008 and the Euro region crisis of 2011.0
Bank Sohar had a soft launch of its banking operations on April 9, 2007 and quickly rose to take an important part in the banking industry. Bank Sohar's cutting edge technology with differentiated customer offerings and services enabled it to make a mark for itself in the Banking Industry in Oman.
Starting from a one branch operation in 2007, Bank Sohar could quickly ramp up its network to 25 branches as of March 2012.
© Oman Daily Observer 2012
