Kuwait's Top Islamic Bank Profits Fall

Kuwait Finance House, the emirate's leading Islamic bank, said Wednesday its net profits dropped in the third quarter and first nine months of 2011.

KFH's third quarter net profit fell 4.5 percent from the same period a year ago to $92.1 million, the bank said in a statement posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange website.

And the lender's net income in the first nine months of 2011 slumped 27.2 percent from 2010 to $257.5 million, it said.

Kuwaiti banks so far this year have yielded lower profits than in 2010, mainly due to precautionary provisions taken against suspicious loans.

KFH profits dropped 10.7 percent in 2010, the third consecutive year the bank reported lower profits due to the impact of the global financial crisis.

Assets on September 30 increased 10.4 percent to $48.4 billion, from $43.8 billion a year ago.