The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) had a strong start to the year with both profit and revenue increasing in the first six months.

The bank recorded a net profit of BD25.10 million ($ 66.76m) for the first half compared with BD24.09m for the same period last year.

This was achieved after setting aside BD6.06m towards general loan loss provision to strengthen the balance sheet and BD1m towards impairment on equity investments.

For the second quarter of 2012, the bank posted a net profit of BD10.99m, up from BD10.45m for the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 5.2 per cent.

The financial results were approved at a board meeting chaired by deputy chairman Dr Essam Fakhro, who said the bank achieved steady progress despite a slower global economic growth environment.

"The strong growth in income is a result of our emphasis on booking quality assets and diversifying the revenue streams by enhancing customer relationship, while efficiently managing the overall balance sheet," said chief executive Abdul Razak Al Qassim.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on new business opportunities and meet the expectations of our customers," he added.

The net interest income for the first half was BD31.54m compared with BD26.84m last time, a strong growth of 17.5pc which was attributable to growth in earning assets and better balance sheet management.

Other income was BD14.46m compared with BD12.25m, an increase of 18pc resulting from increased business volumes.

Operating expenses were well managed with a modest increase of 4.7pc during the year.

As a result, the cost to income ratio improved to 30.09pc from 33.82pc.

Total earning assets comprising of Treasury bills, bank placements, trading securities, loans and advances, and investment securities stood at BD2.32 billion compared with BD2bn a year ago.

Customer deposits continued to show strong growth and stood at BD1.94bn against BD1.69bn a year ago.

Earnings per share were 29.3 fils compared to 28.2 fils for the corresponding period of 2011.