#Israel's Bank Leumi Q4 profit, interest income surge | Reuters

Israel's Bank Leumi Q4 profit, interest income surge | Reuters

Bank Leumi (LUMI.TA) reported a nearly 60% rise in net profit in the fourth quarter, helped by a sharp rise in interest rates that boosted financing income.

Leumi, Israel's largest bank by assets, said it earned a net 2.33 billion shekels ($641 million) in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of 1.47 billion shekels a year earlier.

Helped by aggressive Bank of Israel rate hikes to fight inflation, net interest income jumped to 3.78 billion shekels from 2.55 billion. Its provision to protect against credit losses was 313 million shekels compared with income from the provision of 83 million shekels last year.

Leumi said it would pay a dividend of 698 million shekels, or 30% of fourth quarter net profit, raising its payout from 20%.

Its Tier 1 ratio of capital to risk components, a key measure of financial strength, slipped to 11.46% from 11.5% a year earlier.