Ammon News - (Reuters) - Jordanian lender Arab Bank Group's nine-month net profit rose 15.4 percent to $559 million, helped by growth in net interest income and operating income accompanied by a decrease in provisions compared to last year.

One of the Middle East's major financial institutions said on Sunday that total loans rose 6 percent to $23.2 billion at end-September, while deposits grew 2 percent to $33 billion compared to the same period last year.

The bank gave no figures for third quarter net profits.

Chairman Sabih Masri was quoted in a brief statement as saying the bank's results showed it was on track to continue a positive performance for the rest of 2013 despite "regional turmoil and fluctuations in some major currencies."

Bankers say Arab Bank's geographic diversification across 30 countries on five continents has helped it weather regional turmoil.

Bank CEO Nemeh Sabbagh said the bank had comfortable liquidity, a major bank goal, with a loan-to-deposit ratio of 63.8 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 14.67 percent, well above the minimum set by Jordan's monetary authorities.