CORRECTED - State Bank Mauritius Q1 profits up 47 pct

(Corrects financial reporting period to first quarter from third quarter in headline, first paragraph)

By Richard Lough

PORT LOUIS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - State Bank of Mauritius, which holds 25 percent of domestic assets in the Indian Ocean island, said on Friday higher business volumes boosted first-quarter net profit 47 percent and it saw growth opportunities.

The bank SBML.MZ said in its interim financial report that net profit in the three months to the end of September this year stood at 542.7 million rupees ($17 million), up 46.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

"Against a backdrop of global financial and economic upheaval, growth opportunities nonetheless exist in the local and international markets," the report added.

The World Bank said last week that Mauritius provides its people with the best access to banking in Africa, and ranked third behind Malaysia and Singapore when Asian countries were taken into account.

The State Bank of Mauritius attributed the profit jump to growth in "business volumes" for both corporate and retail clients, resulting in higher net interest income and exchange income which outweighed the rise in non-interest expenses.

"The cost-to-income ratio consequently further improved to 35.7 percent for the quarter under review," the interim report said.

Earnings per share stood at 2.10 rupees compared to 1.43 in the same period last year.

Like many financial institutions around the world buffeted by global financial turmoil, shares in Mauritius' listed banks have declined steadily during the second half of the year.

Shares in the State Bank of Mauritius stood at 64.30 rupees on Friday, down from 99.08 in June this year.

Nonetheless, analysts say the sector's fundamentals were sound and the banks well-secured. (Editing by David Clarke and Hans Peters) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/)