Under international accounting rules, the figures do not include the $7.4 million first half net profits of fellow Lebanese Banque Saradar, which Audi acquired in March in a $159 million cash and equity deal since approved by the central bank.
"Banque Audi recorded an organic asset growth of 9.7 percent, mainly driven by an 11 percent deposit growth," it said in a statement. "These performances bear witness to good management of the bank's operating conditions, in addition to wide activity diversification."
Banque Audi said assets, including those of Saradar, grew 28 percent in the first six months of 2004 to reach $9.8 billion, making the new group Lebanon's biggest bank by assets. Consolidated customer deposits reached $8.2 billion January-June.
Analysts have welcomed Audi's acquisition of Saradar as a sign of increasing consolidation in Lebanon's fragmented banking sector, the main consumer of a government debt above $31 billion whose servicing consumes most state revenues and stifles growth.
Banque Audi said it had made strides toward integrating with medium-sized Saradar and was moving into neighbouring markets as sluggish growth squeezes lending opportunities in tiny Lebanon.
"The bank has initiated its regional expansion policy under favourable conditions. While the operations started in Jordan, the authorisation request process in Syria is being finalised," the statement said. "In parallel, the bank is pursuing its prospection efforts in regional markets with high potential."
Earlier this year, Jordan granted Banque Audi a licence to open its first network of branches in another Arab country.
Syria approved this month an application by Audi to open a joint venture bank in the socialist republic, which has so far licensed four private banks under an economic reform programme.
Syria ended four decades of state control in the financial sector early this year with the opening of three private banks.
"The objective of the group is to permanently reconcile between regional expansion of Lebanese banks and the evolving needs of local customers," it said.
Banque Audi has an extensive retail network in Lebanon and a handful of branches in Europe.
Its merger with Saradar, the biggest in Lebanese banking history, is expected to bring that institution's private banking expertise to the new Audi-Saradar Group.