Sharjah Islamic Bank net profit rises to Dh478m

16/01/2018 07:23 AST

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) on Monday reported a full year 2017 net profit of Dh477.7 million compared with Dh462.9 million in 2016.

Despite booking a total provision of Dh253.8 million, which is in line with the bank’s conservative provisioning policy, the bank reported higher earnings and the board of directors has proposed distribution of 8 per cent in cash dividends to be approved by the shareholders in the next annual general meeting (AGM) meeting.

SIB’s total income reached Dh1.49 billion with an increase of 8.4 per cent compared with Dh1.37 billion last year. Net operating income increased 4.9 per cent year on year to Dh933.8 million compared with 890.4 million in 2016.

The bank’s total assets increased by 14 per cent in 2017 to reach Dh38.3 billion. The Bank has also strengthened its financial position and expanded its capital base. Diversifying the use of funding resources, customer financing reached Dh21.7 billion at the end of 2017 compared to Dh17.1 billion at the end of 2016, an increase of 27 per cent. Investments in securities, increased by 23 per cent to Dh5 billion compared to Dh4.1 billion at the end of 2016.

On the liabilities side, the bank reported strong growth in customer deposits last year by 22 per cent to reach Dh22.3 billion as at the yearend 2017 compared with Dh18.3 billion reported at the end of 2016.

At the yearend 2017 lending to stable deposits ratio was at 79.8 per cent, well below the Central Bank requirement, which enhances the bank’s ability to achieve high growth rates and its ability to diversify its financing activities.

The bank increased its capital base since the beginning of the year twice, firstly through the distribution of bonus shares to the shareholders during the first quarter of 2017, as dividends for 2016, and secondly through the issuance of convertible sukuk into ordinary shares amounting to Dh266.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Last year the bank’s capital increased to Dh2.9 billion and total shareholders’ equity to Dh5.5 billion. The capital adequacy ratio, according to Basel II requirements, reached 21.14 per cent at the end of 2017.

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