Housing Bank raises paid-up capital, announces 30% in dividend

AMMAN — The general assembly of the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) on Sunday approved the distribution of 30 per cent in dividends, in accordance with the board’s recommendation.

The decision was announced during an ordinary meeting of the general assembly which also approved the board of directors’ report, the financial statements of 2016 and the future plan for 2017 at the meeting, according to a bank statement.

It elected the board of directors for the next session, the statement added.

Also, during an extraordinary meeting on Sunday, the general assembly approved

bringing up its capital by 25 per cent to become JD315 million.

Highlighting the bank’s achievements for 2016, Abdul Ilah Khatib who chaired the two meetings, pointed out that the bank’s profit during 2016 exceeded that of the previous year.

Its pre-tax profit amounted to JD190.3 million, marking an increase of JD13.3 million or 7.5 per cent over the previous year, he noted.

The bank’s net profit after tax amounted to JD131 million, with an increase of JD6.3 million or 5 per cent over that of the previous year. 

Khatib said the bank’s group achieved growth in most items of the balance sheet; total assets reached JD7.8 billion, while customer deposits amounted to JD5.6 billion. The total direct credit facilities increased to reach JD4.3 billion at the end of 2016. Total equity is about JD1.1 billion. 

These results positively reflected on several key performance indicators, enhancing the bank’s financial strength, solvency and capital base, besides the quality and safety of its credit and investment portfolios, according to the bank’s statement.