The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance, the most widespread bank in the kingdom, reported an increase in total income by 5.7% to reach JD95.2 million for the first quarter of 2020, compared to JD90.1 million reported during the same period last year. Total credit facilities increased by 1.7% to reach JD4.7 billion as at end of March 2020.

As a result of the Bank's commitment to hedge against the covid-19 pandemic, the Bank has booked additional provisions as a precautionary measure, which has resulted in reporting a net profit of JD16.6 million for the first three months of 2020, compared with JD25.0 million recorded during the same period last year.

Commenting on these results, H.E Mr. Abdel Elah Al-Khatib, chairman of the board of directors, said that the Bank continued to perform strong operational results before the covid-19 pandemic despite the challenging local and regional economic distress, explaining that covid-19 pandemic will negatively affect the whole world economy.

Mr. Al-Khatib added, that these results are a testament to the Bank's strong and well-balanced performance and its ability to sustain a solid financial position, wishing that all efforts will collectively participate in supporting the Kingdom's national response to this pandemic.

Mr. Ammar Al-Safadi, Chief Executive Officer, stated that the results achieved reflect the Bank's commitment in managing all risks efficiently to protect and strengthen the Bank's assets. The Bank increased its loan loss provisioning on the performing loans, as a precautionary measure in light of the recent covid-19 pandemic, as a result, net profit reported a decline by 34% compared with the same period last year. Mr. Al-Safadi added that the Bank maintained a strong capital base, with total shareholders equity amounted to JD1.1 billion, and capital adequacy ratio reached 17.5% as at 31 March 2020.

Housing Bank has taken all the necessary actions to protect the well-being of its employees and customers. Also, The Bank has contributed in the Kingdom's national response to covid-19 by JD3.1 million, demonstrating its commitment in this regard.