Bank Muscat H1 net profit up by 4.4% to $243.25mln

During the period under consideration, Bank Muscat’s net interest income from conventional banking and income from Islamic finance grew by 9.7 per cent to RO159.02mn as against RO144.94mn the bank reported for the same period in 2018.

Bank Muscat’s non-interest income also grew by 4.3 per to RO75.05mn in the first half of the current year from RO71.98mn in the same period last year, the bank said in a press statement.

Bank Muscat’s operating expenses for the first half of 2019 stood at RO97.11mn compared to RO93.47mn for the same period in 2018, an increase of 3.9 per cent. The bank’s net impairment for credit losses for the six months in 2019 was RO24.99mn as against RO16.64mn for the same period in 2018.

Bank Muscat’s net loans and advances, including Islamic financing receivables, grew 6.3 per cent to RO9.08bn as of June 30, 2019 compared to RO8.54bn a year ago.

According to the statement issued by the bank, its customer deposits, including Islamic customer deposits increased 3.7 per cent to RO7.98bn as against RO7.69bn as of June 30, 2018.

The bank in its statement also said, ‘The full results for the six months period ended 30 June 2019 along with complete set of unaudited financial statements will be released post approval of the board of directors of the bank at its meeting scheduled in July 2019.’