The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced on Thursday that its net profit for the third quarter increased by 5.7% compared to last year, reaching $537.2 million (KWD 164.6 million). This growth was helped by higher income from its operations and lower costs for bad loans.
Third-Quarter Results
- The bank’s income was partly reduced by higher expenses and taxes, according to NBK’s report to Boursa Kuwait.
- For the third quarter that ended on September 30, 2024, NBK reported that its total operating revenue increased by 7% compared to last year, reaching $1.04 billion (KWD 31.6 million).
- Net operating profit also grew by 4.3% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024, amounting to $661.6 million (KWD 202.7 million), as stated in NBK’s financial report.
- Earnings per share (EPS) rose by 5.5% during the third quarter, reaching $62.01 (KWD 19), up from $58.74 (KWD 18) a year earlier.
- NBK reported that it earned $7.5 million (KWD 2.3 million) from transactions with related parties this quarter, while expenses from those transactions totaled $3.7 million (KWD 1.1 million).
9-Month Performance Summary
- In the first nine months of 2024, NBK’s net profit for shareholders increased by 6% from last year, reaching $1.5 billion (KWD 457 million).
- The total equity for the company’s owners also went up by 6.2% compared to last year, totaling $13 billion (KWD 3.9 billion) for January to September 2024.
- During this time, the bank’s total operating revenue grew by 7.8% to $3.1 billion (KWD 931 million), while net operating profit rose by 6.3% to $1.9 billion (KWD 588.5 million).
- Earnings per share (EPS) increased by 6% to $172.9 (KWD 53) during the nine months.
- The bank reported a 6.2% rise in total loans and advances, reaching $76 billion (KWD 23.2 billion), and customer deposits grew by 7.1% to $73.5 billion (KWD 22.4 billion).
- As of 11 am AST on Thursday, NBK shares were trading 0.1% lower at $2819 (KWD 864), with a market value of $24.5 billion (KWD 7.2 billion) as of October 17, 2024.
Important Quote
“During the first nine months of 2024, our Group continued to benefit from our strategy of diversifying our products, services, and locations,” said Group Chairman Hamad Al-Bahar.
“This strategy has improved our performance and helped increase our profits, even with rising tensions in the region and around the world that could impact the economy.”
Big Number
As of September, NBK’s assets reached $60.2 billion (KWD 18.5 billion), which is a 7.6% increase from last year, according to the bank’s report.
Outlook
NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO Isam J. Al-Sager is hopeful that credit growth will get better for businesses and households for the rest of the year, unlike the decline seen last year.
He believes this positive trend is due to more project awards in the second quarter of 2024 and expects it to grow even more in the coming months. He also mentioned that lower interest rates in the second half of the year and more Kuwaitis joining the workforce will help support this growth.
Published: 17th October 2024
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