DUBAI: Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, posted a 22.3 percent increase in its second-quarter net profit, beating analysts’ estimates as it booked a one-off gain from the merger of its Bahraini affiliate.
The bank made a quarterly profit of RO46.6m ($121m) in the three months to June 30 compared to RO38.1m in the corresponding period of 2013.
Six analysts polled had, on average, forecast a second-quarter profit of RO38.9m.
Helping to boost its earnings was a RO9.48m investment gain it booked from the merger between Bahraini lenders Al Salam Bank and BMI Bank, in which Bank Muscat had owned 49 percent prior to the tie-up.
Overall non-interest income in the second quarter, under which the investment gain was classified, jumped 56 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to RO42.8m.
Net profit for the first half of 2014 was RO86.4m, up from RO63.1m in the opening half of last year, a filing to the sultanate’s bourse said. Reuters
