AMMAN: Jordan-based Arab Bank Group said its first-quarter net profit rose 5.4% to $216.3 million due to prudent lending policies in a period of regional turmoil.

The bank, one of the Middle East’s major financial institutions with a $46.4 billion balance sheet, said in a statement net interest and commissions grew 4 and 8 percent respectively compared with the same period last year.

Arab Bank also owns 40 percent of Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank (ANB).

Chairman Sabih Al-Masri said the results showed the bank was “progressing in implementing a strategy of diversifying income streams and concentrating on operating revenues in all the countries we operate.”

Arab Bank’s chief executive officer Nemeh Al-Sabbagh said credit facilities grew by 2.5 percent to $23 billion, with the bank maintaining a high level of liquidity in keeping with prudent credit policies to keep the quality of its lending portfolio.