Jordan’s Arab Bank Group, the country’s largest lender, saw its first-half net profits fall 11.7 percent to $303.261 million compared to the same period last year, a statement released on Sunday showed.
The bank saw slight growth in net revenues in the first six months to $904 million against $898 million in the same period last year, the financial statements showed.
Arab Bank Group’s net profits fell 31.4 percent in 2009 to $575.5 million as it set aside $204 million in provisions for non-performing loans, up from $40 million in 2008.
Most Jordanian banks are setting aside higher provisions to cover possible defaults and non-performing loans by businesses and real-estate firms reeling from the impact of the global downturn on the aid-dependent economy.
