Arab Bank Group, Jordan's biggest lender, reported an almost two-thirds drop in its first-half net income as provisions for potential bad loans rose.
Net profit for the six month ending June 30 slipped to $152.1m from $453.2m reported a year earlier, the lender said in a statement on Saturday. Net operating income for the period also declined 21 per cent, it said, without giving the figures.
Global and regional banks "will unavoidably face challenges as a result of the economic contraction, the higher cost of risk and lower interest rates", chief executive Nemeh Sabbagh said in the statement.
The higher percentage of decline in net profit than the lender's operating income was due to the bank opting "to build significantly more provisions during the first half of 2020 against the financial implications of Covid-19", he said.
A decline in profitability at the bank's affiliate in Saudi Arabia also proved a drag in the group's income, he added.
Arab Bank has a network of more than 600 branches on five continents worldwide, according to its website, with branches in places such as London, Dubai, Geneva, Sydney, Frankfurt, as well as a network of affiliates and subsidiaries.
The company said customer deposits grew 5 per cent year-on-year to $35.9bn, while loans grew 2 per cent to $26.7bn.
The provisions made mean that buffers held against non-performing loans continue to exceed 100 per cent and the bank maintains a "strong and robust" capital base with a capital adequacy ratio of 16.8 per cent, the lender said.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
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- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
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How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
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Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
