BLOM Bank results below expectations

Q2 profits down from last year, meager
growth in assets, deposits, and loans

BLOM Bank’s second quarter profits were roughly flat at $81.1 million, down from Q2 profits last year that were at $81.5 million. FFA Private Bank, in a flash note on the bank’s results, said profits were below its $93.4 million-estimate for BLOM’s second quarter profits.

Looking at first half results for this year, FFA noted that BLOM’s net profits were up by one percent to $165.3 million from the same period in 2011.

Soft growth in operating income, which stood at $174.1 million last quarter, was attributed to a six percent increase in net interest income coupled with a nine percent decline in non-interest income. Also blamed for the lack luster performance was a 24 percent drop in trading and investment income, coupled with higher than expected provisioning levels. Total provision in the second quarter alone reached $10.7 million

The bank’s assets and deposits at the end of the second quarter were $23.8 billion and $20.8 billion respectively, not much change from a year ago when assets and deposits totaled $23.1 billion and $20.4 billion respectively. Total loans also registered meager growth to reach $5.8 billion at the end of the second quarter of the year compared to $5.5 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2011.

Basic and diluted earning per share (EPS) was unchanged for the second quarter of the year at $0.37 from the same period last year, below FFA’s estimate of $0.40. EPS for the first half of the year was $0.75, up three percent from the same period in 2011.


Reported by Hani Bathiche