Mubasher: Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji) on Thursday posted a 5.3% year-on-year growth in its profits for the first quarter of 2018.

Profits amounted to QAR 169.5 million in Q1-18, up from QAR 160.9 during Q1-17, according to the bank’s filing to the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).

Earnings per share (EPS) inched up to QAR 0.47 during the three-month period ended 31 March 2018 versus QAR 0.45 for the same period of the prior year.

For the full-year 2017, Al Khaliji’s profits surged 29.1% year-on-year to QAR 550.5 million, boosted by the increase of its operating income.

“The key contributor to the increased operating income was Net Interest Income, which we grew by 5.7%, compared to Q1 2017. This was a key goal in 2017 and remains so into 2018,” Fahad Al Khalifa, Al khalij’s Group CEO, said.

The Qatar-based lender's capital adequacy ratio remained robust at 16.6% by the end of March.

By the end of Thursday’s session, Al Khaliji’s stock rose 1.18% at QAR 11.18.