AMMAN: Jordan’s Housing Bank for Trade and Finance reported a 14.5 percent rise in net profit for the first nine months of the year to 90 million dinars ($127 million), on the back of robust growth in its core business.

The bank gave no figures for third-quarter net profit.

The countryís second-largest lender said assets were up 4 percent on a year earlier at 7.5 billion dinars at the end of September.

“The results reflect the strong solvency of the bank and quality of its credit investment portfolios,” Chairman Michel Marto said in a statement.

Customer deposits stood at 5.4 billion dinars, up 6 percent, while the bank’s credit portfolio stood at $2.8 billion at end of September, up 6.4 percent.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio reached 17.6 percent, well above the regulatory standard of 12 percent.

Housing Bank’s main shareholders are Qatar National Bank, with a 35-percent holding, followed by Libya’s Foreign Bank with around 16 percent.

Jordan’s state pension fund also holds a 16 percent stake. Gulf Arab investors along with Jordanian businessmen own the remaining shares of the bank, which has the largest branch network in the country.

One of the largest foreign banks operating in Syria, the bank said its operations there were performing well despite the unrest. It provided no details.