AMMAN, 28 April 2008 — The Arab Bank Group posted a 24.4 percent increase in net profits in the first quarter of the year, to $232.8 million from $187.1 million in the same period of 2007, the group's Chairman Abdul Hamid Shoman said yesterday. The Arab Bank Group's total assets grew by 21.6 percent, to $40.5 billion from $33.3 billion in the first quarter of 2007, Shoman said. He also reported an 18.4 per cent increase in the clients' deposits, to $25.7 billion from $21.7 billion.