Kazakh Halyk Bank Q1 net income dips 9.3 pct

ALMATY, June 3 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's No.3 bank Halyk (HSBKq.L) HSBK.KZ said on Tuesday its first-quarter net income fell to 9.8 billion tenge ($81 million) from 10.8 billion in the same period of 2007.

"Net income was mainly affected by growing average rates on customer deposits, a higher impairment charge on the loan portfolio, and a net loss incurred on the financial assets," Halyk said in a statement.

Growth in interest income, income from subsidiaries and operating efficiency partially offset the rising costs and losses, it said.

Halyk's assets grew 4 percent in the first quarter to 1,666.4 billion tenge ($13.8 billion), the bank said.

Halyk's management will hold a conference call for analysts at 1300 GMT on Tuesday.

Kazakh banks, hit hard by the global liquidity squeeze, have barely shown growth this year. Analysts and rating agencies say they are concerned with the industry's asset quality which may deteriorate if the credit crunch deepens. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov)