Israel Discount Bank second-quarter net profit up 49 percent

TEL AVIV – Israel Discount Bank <DSCT.TA> reported a 49 percent jump in second-quarter net profit, boosted by higher financing income due to growth in its credit portfolio and by lower credit loss provisions.

Israel’s fourth-largest bank by assets said on Wednesday it earned 434 million shekels , up from 291 million a year earlier. Analysts on average forecast a net profit of 356 million shekels, according to a Reuters poll.

It declared a dividend for the second quarter of 42 million shekels, equal to 10 percent of net profit.

Discount had said it would start paying quarterly dividends beginning in the first quarter. The bank had not paid dividends to ordinary shareholders since 1996, except for a one-time distribution in 2008.

Net interest income rose 10.8 percent to 1.88 billion shekels while credit loss expenses decreased to 129 million shekels from 211 million a year earlier.

The bank’s tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, which measures equity capital as a percentage of total risk-weighted assets, was unchanged from a year earlier at 9.8 percent.