Jordan’s Housing Bank reports 16 pct rise in first-half profit

Jordan’s Housing Bank for Trade and Finance, the country’s second largest lender, posted a 16.4 percent increase in first-half net profit to $86.2 million due to better utilization of funding in core activities, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Assets stood at $10.7 billion at end of June, up 5 percent from the end of 2013. The bank’s main shareholder is Qatar National Bank, with a stake of over 35 percent.

“The results reflect a strategy based on attracting more sources of capital and utilizing them more effectively,” said Chairman Michel Marto, adding that customer deposits rose 3.6 percent to $7.5 billion compared to the end of last year.

The bank’s credit portfolio stood at $4 billion, a 5.2 percent rise over the same period.

The bank’s total capital adequacy ratio reached 17.6 percent at the end of June, well above the regulatory standard of 12 percent, the bank said.