Kuwait-Mubasher: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) reported a decline of 18.2% in net profits for the first quarter of 2016 as compared to the same period in 2015, according to a statement issued Sunday.
NBK achieved earnings worth KWD 78.94 million ($261.3 million) in Q1-16, compared to KWD 96.52 million ($319.5 million) in Q1-15.
The KSE-listed bank clarified that Q1-15 financials included one-off gains which resulted from selling NBK’s stake in International Bank of Qatar. Excluding such gains, NBK’s net profits grew by 6.7% in the first quarter as compared to the same period in 2015.
The bank’s operating revenues grew 7.6% to KWD 179.2 million ($594.13 million) in Q1-16, after excluding the profits resulting from the sale deal.
NBK’s total assets grew 5.8% to reach KWD 24.7 billion ($81.89 billion) by the end of March 2016. Shareholders’ equity gained 1.7% to settle at KWD 2.6 billion ($8.62 billion).
On the stock market’s level, NBK rose by 1.5% or 10 fils to close at 680 fils on Sunday, after nearly 577,300 shares were traded with a value worth about KWD 388,300.
