KUWAIT, April 16 (KUNA) -- National Bank of Kuwait (KBK) announced that it made a net profit of 81 million Kuwaiti dinars in the first quarter of this year, profitability of 19 fils per share with an increase of 5.5 percent from last year's profit.

The bank's Chairman Mohamed Al-Bahar said in a statement today that the bank's total assets rose to 14.4 billion dinars, a growth of 3.5 percent compared with the first quarter of 2011. Shareholders' equity also increased by 5.5 percent to reach 2.25 billion dinars.

He added that return on total assets reached 2.33 percent and a return on shareholders' equity reached 15 percent, considering that such results were "proof of the strength of the bank's financial position and its ability to continue to achieve growth and profits despite the difficult operating environment locally and regionally.

He said that all the profits of the bank was due to real operational activity locally and regionally, as operating revenues increased to 133.7 million dinars in the first quarter of 2012.