NBO posts 20% surge in net profit

Muscat: National Bank of Oman (NBO) on Tuesday reported a 20 per cent surge in net profit to OMR60.11 million in 2015, up from OMR50.27 million posted in the previous year.
NBO is the first Omani bank to have announced its full year preliminary financial results.
The bank said in a stock market disclosure that the net interest income and income from Islamic finance grew 16 per cent to OMR94.74 million in 2015, from OMR81.46 million in year before.
Also, net loans and advances reflected a 9 per cent growth to OMR2,534.10 million from OMR2,316.81 million during the period under review. However, customer deposits grew at a slower pace of 3 per cent to OMR2,249.83 million by end-December 2015, from the previous year.
The total assets of the bank also grew by 10 per cent to OMR3,263.44 million from OMR2,976.09 million.
The financial results are subject to the approval of external auditors, the Board of Directors, the Central Bank of Oman and the shareholders of the bank.