National Bank of Kuwait reported 5.4% rise in net profit during Q4

Kuwait’s largest bank, the NBK recently reported 5.4% rise in Q4 net profit, as analyzed by Reuters. Reuters analyzed the data based on yearly financial statements broken down in quarters.

According to the report, the bank’s net profit last year was 75.9 million dinars. However this year the net profit increased to 80 million dinars. The net profit for the complete year increased by 9.2%.

It appears the reason for the increase was higher income from net interest, Islamic financing and investment for the improved annual performance. The rise in net interest income and income from Islamic financing was mainly because of strong growth in business banking and increases in benchmark interest rates.

National Bank of Kuwait’s chairman Nasser al-Sayer commented saying, “Kuwait’s fiscal position is better than peers given the substantial buffers and strong sovereign ratings; creating room for acceleration in spending despite lower oil prices.”