The Impact of Sustainability on the Financial Performance of Jordanian Islamic Banks

The study looked into the effect of the three dimensions of sustainability (economic dimension, environmental dimension, and social dimension) on the financial performance of Jordanian Islamic banks represented by (return on assets, return on equity, and earnings per share) during the period (2008-2014). The study sample contained two main Islamic banks in Jordan, namely: Jordan Islamic Bank and Arab Islamic Bank. Required data was collected from the annual reports, financial statements, sustainability reports, and social responsibility reports of the Jordanian Islamic banks from (2008-2014). Items for the dimensions of sustainability were determined, and their level of exercise was measured, by analyzing the content of these reports (content analysis), as well as the financial indicators of financial performance, which have been extracted from the financial statements of the surveyed banks. The study results have shown the presence of a statistically significant effect of the dimensions of sustainability on the financial performance measured by ROA and EPS in the Jordanian Islamic banks. However, there was no statistically significant effect of the dimensions of sustainability on the financial performance as measured by ROE in those banks. Finally, the study has encouraged Islamic banks to adopt a rational and prudent investment and financial policies, make proper operational decisions to generate revenue, maximize profits, and achieve shareholder objectives, issue sustainability reports to discover if goals and activities are compatible to the goals and interests of society and the environment, and increase their interest in sustainability.