AMMAN – Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) Group has announced its financial results for the first six months of 2024, reporting net profits of JD80.1 million, an increase of 4.4% compared to the same period last year.
Commenting on these results, H.E. Abdul Elah Al-Khatib, Chairman of the Board of Directors, expressed his satisfaction with the positive financial results achieved, emphasizing that the Group’s positive financial outcomesreflect the success of its policies and strategy, characterized by flexibility and modernity, which are based on maintaining the Group’s five-decade legacy of success and achievements.
Al-Khatib added that the Group’s ability to achieve net profits exceeding JD80 million during the first half of theyear confirms the Bank’s success and ability to deal with exceptional circumstances, geopolitical developments, and their repercussions on the economic and service sectors.
From his side, Ammar Al-Safadi, Chief Executive Officer of HBTF Group, uncovered the Group’s key financial indicators for the first half of 2024, which illustrate theGroup’s strong financial position, as well as effective and flexible resource management across various operational sectors, further highlighting its continued achievement of targeted growth in its various operational activities.
Al-Safadi expressed his pride in the Bank’s outstanding performance for the first half of the current year and its ability to record sustainable growth derived from its main operational sectors, which continued to record positive upward performance across its various financial indicators.
Additionally, Al-Safadi noted that the return on equity toshareholders increased to 12.3%, while the return on average assets increased to 1.81% during the first half of the current year. This outstanding performance reflects the Bank’s operational efficiency and successful asset and liability management to deliver the greatest return to theshareholders.
Furthermore, Al-Safadi emphasized that the Group has maintained its prudent risk management approach and precautionary measures to hedge against any potential economic challenges, allocating increased provisions for expected credit losses during the first half of the year.
The recent upgrade of the Bank’s credit rating by international agencies, elaborated Al-Safadi, is an extension of the Bank’s strong financial position and its distinguished performance. It is a testament to its firm commitment to providing the best innovative banking solutions and distinguished services in a flexible and evolvingoperational environment. Al-Safadi explained that raising the Bank’s credit rating is a culmination of its efforts to maintain the rising profitability, supported by a strong capital base and high liquidity ratios, in addition to maintaining high percentages of stable customer deposits. It also reflects the conservative approach adopted by the Bank, which balances additional reserves with assetquality, demonstrating the Bank’s ability to manageeconomic challenges with great flexibility.
During the first half of 2024, the Group’s net credit facilities increased by 5.3% to reach JD4.7 billion as at the end of June 2024. This growth positively impacted the total income, operating profit, and market share of the Bank.
Moreover, the Group continued to strengthen its sources of funds, as customer deposits increased by 3.6% to reachJD5.9 billion by the end of the first half of 2024. The total equity amounted to JD1.3 billion, while the capital adequacy ratio reached 18.6%, which is higher than the minimum regulatory requirements of the Central Bank of Jordan and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Looking ahead, Al-Safadi assured that the HBTF Groupwill continue to advance its strategy by adopting the latest electronic and digital applications in line with the best banking practices globally, to provide the top banking services to customers and uphold their satisfaction. He reaffirmed the Group’s commitment to staying at the forefront of new developments in the banking industry and what modern technology provides in this field, including what befits the Housing Bank’s position in the Jordanian banking market.
