Bank Muscat’s 2018 net profit increases
The bank announced its unaudited preliminary results for 2018, subject to the approval of external auditors, the Board of Directors, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and shareholders of the bank.
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial institution in the Sultanate, posted a net profit of OMR179.63 million for the year ending December 31, 2018, compared to OMR176.82 million reported during the same period in 2017, an increase of 1.6 per cent. The bank announced its unaudited preliminary results for 2018, subject to the approval of external auditors, the Board of Directors, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and shareholders of the bank. 2017, an increase of 8.2 per cent.
The non-interest income of the bank at OMR142.45 million was lower by 7.9 per cent compared to OMR154.62 million for the year ending December 31, 2017. Income in 2017 includes a one-off investment gain of OMR12.8 million on the sale of certain investments.
Operating expenses of the bank for the year ending December 31, 2018, at OMR190.34 million were higher by 3.4 per cent as compared to OMR184.08 million for the same period in 2017.
Net Impairment and other losses for the year ending December 31, 2018, were at OMR42.54 million as against OMR43.28 million for the same period in 2017.
Net loans and advances, including Islamic financing receivables, increased by 7.3 per cent to OMR8,938 million, as against OMR8,329 million for the same period in 2017.
Customer deposits, including Islamic customer deposits, increased by 14.1 per cent to OMR8,463 million against OMR7,419 million as of December 31, 2017. The main reason for the substantial increase in customer deposits in the last quarter of 2018 was due to an increase in short-term deposits, which are transit in nature.
The full results for the year ending December 31, 2018, along with a complete set of financial statements will be released post the approval of the Board of Directors of the bank at its meeting scheduled later in January 2019.