(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese lender Bank Audi’s net profit in the first nine months of the year was up 7.1 percent at $280 million, it said on Thursday.
The bank said in a statement that the increase came after the allocation of $71 million of net loan provision charges.
Last year Audi reported a drop of 5.5 percent in its nine-month profits, weighed on by the costs of launching its new Turkish subsidiary Odeabank.
“This performance stems from a sustainment of profitability levels in all entities within the context of Odea Bank reporting positive net profits after provisions and taxes starting the month of May 2014, well ahead of set timing,” the statement said.
The bank, which operates in 13 countries, said its consolidated assets in the first nine months of 2014 increased to $39.9 billion while its customer deposits went up to $33.9 billion, an increase of 9.1 percent since the end of 2013.
Over the first nine months of 2014, Lebanon’s economic performance was modest, as confirmed by most real sector indicators, with overall activity somehow in line with the 1.8% real GDP growth recent forecast by the IMF for the year, according to the press release.
Bank Audi says its actions of “diversifying sources of activity and profitability” helped reinforce the Bank’s financial standing.