Monday, Jan 28, 2013
BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Blom Bank (BLOM.LE), one of Lebanon's two biggest lenders by assets, said full-year net profit rose slightly to $335.5 million in 2012 despite an increase in provisions to offset regional unrest and economic slowdown at home.
The on year profit growth was 1.2%, according to Zawya Dow Jones calculations based on Zawya.com data.
The bank said in a statement emailed Monday that it has allocated net provisions of $102.6 million in 2012 "to cover for the exceptional circumstances in the region, and amid operating conditions defined by a noticeable economic slowdown in Lebanon."
This additional cost was mainly offset by a surge in "net gains on financial instruments" designated at fair value to about $129.2 million from just $5.32 million in 2011, according to the income statement posted on Blom's website. Net interest income, which inched up 1.3% to $524.6 million, also contributed to the profit growth to some extent.
Total assets increased 8% to $25.02 billion compared with a year earlier; deposits rose 7.1% on year to $21.75 billion at the end of 2012 while loans to customers grew 7.8%.to $6.03 billion, the lender said in the emailed statement.
Write to Shikrallah Nakhoul at shikrallah@zawya.com
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28-01-13 1154GMT
