Bank Muscat's net profit drops 20% to RO113mn
Bank Muscat reported a net profit of RO113.21mn for the first nine months of 2020 compared to RO141.43mn net profit reported for the same period of last year, recording an year-on-year decrease of 20 per cent.
The bank on Thursday announced its preliminary unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2020. Bank Muscat's net interest income from conventional banking and net income from Islamic financing slightly increased 0.9 per cent to RO240.07mn in the first nine months of this year compared to RO237.97mn for the same period in 2019.
The bank's non-interest income came at RO96.72mn for the nine months period this year as compared to RO113.76mn for the same period in 2019, a decrease of 15 per cent. The decrease in non-interest income was mainly because of the subdued business conditions due to the COVID-19 related lockdowns in the second and third quarters and the waiver of certain fees due to regulatory measures, Bank Muscat said in a press statement.
The bank's operating expenses for the nine months period ended September 30, 2020 were at RO137.19mn as compared to RO144.54mn for the same period in 2019, a decrease of 5.1 per cent.
Net impairment for credit and other losses for the nine months period in 2020 rose to RO64.82mn from RO38.14mn for the same period of 2019. 'The increase was mainly on account of precautionary and collective provisions made in the first half 2020, on a forward-looking basis, given the emerging stress in the economic and business conditions as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and the continued pressure on oil prices,' Bank Muscat said.
Bank Muscat's net loans and advances (including Islamic financing receivables) decreased by 1.3 per cent to RO8.846bn as of September 30, 2020 from RO8.965bn a year ago. The reduction in the loan book is mainly attributable to prepayment of certain large corporate exposures in the last quarter of 2019, the bank said.
Total customer deposits (including Islamic customer deposits) this year increased by 6.7 per cent to RO8.714bn as against RO8.164bn as at September 30, 2019.