Bank Muscat announced that its 2012 first-quarter financial results have been approved by the board of directors. The bank posted a net profit of RO33.4mn for the three months ended March 31, 2012 compared to RO27.8mn in the same period in 2011, an increase of 20 per cent. Net interest income at RO54.4mn in Q1'12 was up 1.2 per cent from RO53.7mn in Q1'11, which also included a one-off income. Excluding this item, net interest income would have increased 13 per cent. Non-interest income at RO24.6mn was higher by 8.8 per cent from RO22.6mn in Q1'11. Operating expenses for the three-month period in 2012 increased 6.5 per cent to RO33.5mn. Increase in operating expenses is mainly attributable to increase in manpower cost, a press release said. Impairment for credit losses for the three-month period in 2012 was RO12.5mn as against RO13.1mn for the same period in 2011. Recoveries from impairment for credit losses were RO5.8mn as against RO3mn for the quarter in 2011. Share of profit from associates was RO32, 000 for the latest quarter as against a share of loss RO1.8mn in Q1'11. Net loans and advances increased 24.7 per cent to RO4.99bn as against RO3.99bn as at March 31, 2011. Customer deposits, including CDs, increased 33.5 per cent to RO5.06bn as against RO3.79bn as on March 31, 2011. The increase in customer deposits was driven by a mix of both low-cost deposits and term deposits. The banks strategic initiatives during the latest first-quarter period included board approval to raise additional capital of RO100mn through a rights issue and RO57.75mn through a private placement of shares. The board of directors assigned RO150mn capital for the proposed Meethaq Islamic banking window operations. The final allocation will be determined by business opportunities in the market and the assigned amount may increase if required. The capital allocation is subject to regulatory approvals, Muscat Daily reported.
