Hong Leong Islamic Bank (HLIB) posted a higher pre-tax profit of RM 42 million, up 16% YoY and 24% on a QoQ comparison with the same period last year.

The Bank continued to grow its retail balance sheet sensibly. Moving forward, affirmative actions are in-place to re-position the Islamic Bank towards a wholesale proposition, encompassing Islamic Investment Banking and Corporate and Commercial business, in addition to Islamic Wealth Management.

The balance sheet net financing grew to RM 4.0 billion versus RM 3.7 billion as of June 2007. Depositor base stood at RM 5.4 billion, up 2.7% from June 2007, with the mix of individual depositors at 23%. The capital adequacy ratio was strong at 14.1% for its core capital and 15.6% for its total capital adequacy.

Earning per share was 6.19 sen (12.36 sen if annualised) compared to 5.24 sen ( 10.48 sen if annualised) as of Dec 2006 and return on average shareholder funds was 10.0% (annualised) compared with 9.9% for the 12 months as of June 2007.