JERUSALEM, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest lender, reported a 43% rise in quarterly profit on Monday, boosted by a jump in financing income amid high inflation and interest rates that more than offset a spike in provisions against loan defaults.
Hapoalim, the country's largest bank by credit to the public, said it earned 1.92 billion shekels ($515 million) in the second quarter, up from 1.34 billion a year earlier. That resulted in a return on equity of 15.8%.
Net interest income rose 35% to 4.3 billion shekels as it recorded a provision for credit losses of 579 million shekels, up from 91 million provision in the April-June period in 2022.
Hapoalim, whose credit portfolio rose 7.6% over the past year, said it would pay a second-quarter dividend of 769 million shekels, a payout of 40% of quarterly net income. ($1 = 3.7311 shekels) (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
