Offshore banks operating in Malaysia's International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC) in Labuan saw a 48.7 percent increase in pretax profit to 166.8 million dollars in 2003, officials said today.

Central Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, who is also the chairman of the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA), attributed the better performance to a 45.5 percent fall in non-performing loans (NPLs).

The NPL ratio fell to 6.2 percent in 2003 from 10.7 percent in 2002, she told reporters at a news conference in conjunction with the release of a report on the sector.

Total loans of offshore banks increased to 10.9 billion dollars from 10.5 billion in 2002, the central bank governor said. - AFP