The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has posted a 45.04% jump in net profits to $439.8 million (KWD 136.4 million) in the third quarter ending September 30, 2022, marking the highest quarterly profit ever registered. This is compared to the $303 million (KWD 94 million) recorded in the third quarter of 2021, the bank said in a filing to the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
Net profits increased by 46.86% to $1.2 billion (KWD 374.23 million) during the first nine months of 2022, compared to $821.7 million ( KWD 254.81 million) during the same period in 2021. The bank attributed the increase in net profits to growth in net operating income, in addition to the decrease in credit loss.
The bank’s assets also increased by 6.76% on an annual basis to $111.89 billion (KWD 34.7 billion) by the end of September, compared to $104.8 billion ( KWD 32.5 billion) in the same period last year.
Shareholders' equity of the parent company increased in the first nine months of the year by 1.52% to $11.25 billion (KWD 3.49 billion) compared to $11 billion (KWD 3.43 billion) in the same period last year.
Customer deposits in NBK jumped in the first nine months of the year to $62 billion (KWD 19.27 billion), compared to $58.9 billion (KWD 18.28 billion during the same period in 2021. NBK has 140 branches in 14 countries and employs 7,511 employees. In March, the bank launched the "Sustainable Financing Framework" to integrate environmental, social, and governance standards into its operations. It set internal targets to reduce total operational emissions by 25% by 2025, and aspires to reach net zero emissions in its operations by 2035.
The Arab Jordan Investment Bank had acquired the banking business of NBK in Jordan last February, without specifying the value of the deal.
