Bank Sohar nine-month net profit jumps by 44% 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Bank Sohar's net profit jumped by 43.6 per cent for the nine-month period ended September 30, compared to the same period in 2011, according to a disclosure with the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Wednesday.The bank's net profit for the nine-month period grew to RO15.7mn in 2012 from RO10.9mn in 2011. Increased operating income and improved net loan growth helped the bank in posting profits. Net loans and advances of the bank increased by15.8 per cent to RO1.14bn from RO982mn a year ago.The bank's operating income rose by 21 per cent to RO38.2mn in the nine months period of 2012 from RO31.5mn in the same period of last year.Anil Kumar, senior vice president-research at Fincorp, said that the performance of the bank has been efficient due to the lower operating cost to income ratio and increased loan book growth.He said, ''The bank has maintained an efficient loan book growth despite having stiff competition from other local and international banks.''Bank Sohar's total assets surged 39 per cent to RO1.78bn from RO1.28 in the year ago.