AMMAN -- The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) announced in a press statement on Tuesday that net pretax profit amounted to JD142.2 million last year compared with JD135.7 million in 2011.
"Net after-tax profit was also higher at JD104.5 million compared to JD100 million," according to the statement.
HBTF Chairman Michel Marto described the result as positive stressing the prudent and conservative policies followed by the bank.
Marto highlighted the bank's solvency, resilient capital base, and healthy credit and investment portfolios, noting that the bank continues to guard against non-performing loans and risks with convenient and appropriate provisions
Financial statements showed a 2.2 per cent increase in total assets which reached JD7.1 billion, while total deposits rose by 3.6 per cent to JD5.6 billion.
Net credit facilities went up by 7.3 per cent reaching JD2.7 billion and equity stood at JD1.05 billion.
"These positive results were realised despite a 28 per cent decline in the value of the Syrian lira during 2012; as such a drop affected the balance sheet of the International Bank for Trade & Finance/Syria, an affiliated bank of HBTF," the statement indicated.
In addition to these achievements, capital adequacy was 19 per cent, higher than the 8 per cent rate required by the Basel Committee and the 12 per cent required by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).
Asset revenue increased to 1.49 per cent and equity revenue to 10 per cent. Liquidity ratio stood at 148 per cent, 48 per cent higher than the acceptable minimum according to CBJ instructions.
According to the statement, the ratio of loans to deposits was 56.7 per cent, and efficiency index (expense/income ratio) improved from 38.6 per cent in 2011 to 36.1 per cent in 2012.
External branches of the bank in Bahrain and Palestine achieved good growth and higher profits, deposits, loans, and credit facilities in 2012 compared with the previous year. Subsidiary in Algeria and UK have also achieved good results, while performance of the Syrian subsidiary was affected as expected as a result of difficult conditions facing Syria.
The board of directors is recommending the distribution of JD63 million as dividends to shareholders at a rate of 25 per cent
The results are preliminary and subject to the CBJ approval.
© Jordan Times 2013
