Sharjah Islamic Bank announced a net profit of AED191.6m ($52.2m) for the first nine months of 2010, down 16 per cent from AED227.6m last year.

Total assets reached AED16.3bn compared to AED16bn in December 2009. Total liquid assets grew by 12.9 per cent to AED3.6bn, while shareholder equity reached AED4.3bn.

Formerly known as the National Bank of Sharjah, it was the first bank in the world to convert to Islamic banking in 2002. It recently signed an agreement with the Sharjah Social Services Department (SSSD) to issue bank cards to allow employees to receive monthly payments via the bank’s ATMs instead of cash from SSSD offices.