JEDDAH: Middle East banking revenues continued to grow at single digit rates in 2012 with a 6.9 percent increase, while profits increased by 8.1 percent due to an overproportional increase in extraordinary income, a recent study by The Boston Consulting Group revealed.
At an aggregate level, provisions for bad loans picked up by 2 percent, after having fallen last year, it said. Increases in operating costs exceeded revenue growth slightly with 7.2 percent, the study quoted by Saudi Gazette, said.
While banks in Qatar grew revenues by 12 percent and banks in Saudi Arabia and Oman achieved high single digit growth rates, banks in the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain achieved a revenue growth rate of 5 percent or below.
Banks in all countries achieved above 7 percent profit growth rates, except in Kuwait with 3 percent. (QNA)
