HSBC’s Oman Unit Sees 62.7% Drop In 2012 Profit

HSBC Bank Oman, formed last year by a merger of HSBC’s Oman unit and Oman International Bank, posted a 62.7-per cent slump in 2012 net profit, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday, hurt by integration costs and bad loans.

The lender, Oman’s second-largest by market capitalisation, made a net profit of OMR5.8 million ($15.1 million) in 2012, compared with OMR15.5 million in 2011, the bourse filing from the bank said.

In the fourth quarter, HSBC Bank Oman made a net loss of OMR4.77 million, according on Reuters calculations based on the company’s nine-month net profit of OMR10.57 million.

Non performing loans as a percentage of total loans jumped to 7.1 per cent at the end of 2012, compared with 1.2 per cent at the end of the previous year, the statement said.

Operating expenses rose to OMR48.7 million, which included OMR13.9 million of integration costs, the bank said without detailing how much the increase was.

The formal completion of the merger was announced at the beginning of June, with HSBC holding 51 per cent of the new entity. Previously, OIB was Oman’s fifth-largest bank, with the second-largest branch network in the country and gross assets of $3.2 billion.

The board of directors proposed a cash dividend of OMR0.001 per share, the statement added.

In October, one of Oman’s richest businessmen increased his shareholding in the bank to 25 per cent from 18.39 per cent.