National Bank of Umm Al-Qaiwain (NBQ) has recorded a 32 per cent increase in its net profit for the half year ended June 2009 compared to the corresponding period last year.

The bank registered a net profit of Dh 219.3 million for the first half of this year compared to Dh 166.2m last year.

The bank said it improved its credit to deposit ratio to nearly 1:1 as it reduced its advances by 12 per cent to Dh 8.6bn compared to Dh 9.8bn in the first half of 2008.

It said that as a result of improvement in its liquidity position, all the syndicated and bilateral borrowings maturing in 2009, amounting to Dh 624m, were prepaid in the second quarter.

The equity investment portfolio registered a gain of Dh3m in the first six months of this year compared to Dh21.5m last year "due to underperforming GCC stock markets".

Operating income of the bank registered a 71 per cent increase for the past six months at Dh284.7m during this period.

According to the bank, its total assets increased to Dh 14.06bn at the end of June this year compared to Dh Dh13.5bn as on December 31, 2008.

The bank said it has made more provisions than stipulated by the guidelines of the Central Bank of UAE for its "limited exposure" to the Saad and Algosaibi groups. The provision for non performing assets and for the inherent risk in loans portfolio, net of recoveries, was Dh 68.5m for the six month period of this year.