Bank Audi said Thursday that its net profits rose by 14.1 percent to reach $309.4 million in the first nine months of 2012, despite delicate political and economic conditions in Lebanon and throughout the region. “Audi Saradar Group registered an adequate performance over the first nine months of 2012, with net earnings growing by 14.1 percent relative to last year’s corresponding period. Net earnings amounted to $309.4 million in the first nine months of 2012, (of which $32.8 million in net earnings after taxes and expenses stemming from discontinued operation),” the bank said in a statement. Consolidated assets reached $29.2 billion at end-September 2012 and $40.6 billion when accounting for fiduciary deposits, security accounts and assets under management, despite the contraction of assets of Bank Audi Syria at end-September 2012 to a third of their December 2010 levels. Audi explained these results were caused by additional provisions worth $93.9 million during the first nine months of 2012, most of which were in the form of collective provisions. Total collective provisions reached $105.2 million at the end of September 2012, the equivalent of 1.1 percent of the consolidated net loans portfolio, while total provisions stood at $188.9 million or 2 percent of gross loans. Consolidated deposits amounted to $24.9 billion, despite the contraction of the bank’s deposit base in Syria, with the stability of the consolidated deposit base tied to the relative growth reported at various subsidiaries. “Consolidated shareholders’ equity reached $2.6 billion, accounting for 9 percent of the bank’s consolidated assets, and translating into a Basel III capital adequacy ratio of around 12 percent, versus a 10 percent minimum regulatory requirement,” it said. It added that primary liquidity placed with central banks and foreign banks reached $12.2 billion. From DailyStar