BEIRUT - Lebanon's BLOM Bank said on Friday its 2008 net profit rose 23 percent to $251.6 million.

The bank said in a statement total assets rose 7.4 percent to nearly $17.9 billion and customer deposits went up 10 percent to $15.1 billion.

Shares of Lebanon's second-largest bank in terms of assets closed up 0.8 percent at $67.15 in low volumes. It recorded a year low on Jan. 21, trading at $65.

The bank has attributed its rise in profits to regional expansion. It said in the statement that it was on track to begin operations in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the first half of 2009, "thereby completing its presence in twelve countries throughout Europe, the Gulf and the Middle East".

Lebanon's financial sector has been protected from the financial crisis due to tight central bank regulation. -Reuters