Housing Bank’s net profit jumps 14.5% during 9 months

AMMAN — The Housing Bank announced Saturday in a press statement that it generated JD90.2 million net profit after tax during the first 9 months of this year, 14.5 per cent higher than the JD78.8 million it recorded during the same period of last year.

According to the statement, the January-September 2014 pre-tax profit amounted to JD122.2 million, an 11 per cent increase over the JD110.2 million posted during the first 9 months  of 2013.

“Total assets at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2014 rose by 4 per cent from the end of 2013 to JD7.5 billion, and customer deposit balances increased by 6.1 per cent to JD5.4 billion,” Michel Marto, chairman of the board of directors, indicated in the statement.

“Net balance of credit facilities portfolio reached JD2.8 billion, 6.4 per cent higher than the amount at the end of last year,”  he said.

These results reflected positively on various performance indicators as the capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.6 per cent, higher than the 12 per cent minimum required by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), and liquidity ratio came at 166 per cent, which is also higher than the CBJ’s 100 per cent required minimum.

Other indicators showed a 1.6 per cent return on assets ratio, an 11.2 per cent return on equity ratio, and a 57.5 per cent loans-to-customer deposits ratio 

Marto stressed in the statement that the bank always seeks to develop products, improve the level of service to customers and promote various distribution channels.

The chairman indicated that the number of bank branches operating in Jordan reached 123 supported by 209 ATMs. 

“Accordingly, the bank remains the leader of the banking sector in Jordan in terms of number of branches and ATMs,” the statement said. 

The Housing Bank has local and international branch network of (173) branches in Jordan, Syria, Algeria, London, Palestine and Bahrain, as well as representative offices in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Libya. 

Marto underlined the bank’s financial strength and soundness besides the safety and quality of its credit and investment portfolios.