The bank in a statement said that it continued to achieve good financial results in 2010 with the net income increased by 10%, shareholders equity by 11%, assets by 18%, investments by 23% and customer deposits by 13%.
After deducting operating expenses, which fell by 7%, net operating income achieved a significant increase of 28% from $ 60.80 million in 2009 to $77.89 million in 2010. This improvement reflects growth in income from all categories of financing and investment operations. As a result of this growth, the net income increased by a remarkable 10% to reach $43.93 million in 2010.
As at the end of 2010, the bank’s assets grew by 18% to reach $1.6 billion, compared with $1.4 billion at the end of 2009. This growth was achieved despite a slight fall in total financings and investments to $726 million as at the end of the year as a result of regulations introduced by the Central Bank of Algeria imposing restrictions on personal finance. The asset growth was funded by increasing the range of the Bank’s investment products which resulted in a 13% increase in customer deposits and unrestricted investment accounts to reach $1.2 billion as at the end of 2010, funding 74% of the Bank’s total assets. The asset growth was also partly funded by an 11% increase in shareholder equity which amounted to $251.79 million as at the end of 2010.
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Baraka Bank Algeria and President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group said that he was pleased with the results and praised the great efforts made by the executive management of the Bank and all of its employees to achieve them.
“The bank’s performance in 2010 was excellent. It is a proof that the Bank is well established in the Algerian market. The Bank was able to build upon the strong financial resources that it possesses and also benefit from the strong support that the parent company (ABG) extends to its subsidiary banks to expand its branch network, enhance its human resources and diversify the services and products that it offers. These steps enabled the Bank to make the most of the opportunities available in the promising Algerian market,” he said.
He added that the Bank had during the year significantly expanded its foreign trade finance operations which showed a significant increase in the number of letters of credit and letters of guarantee issued, aggregating to 179% ($1.03 billion), and as a result the Bank’s income from banking services increased by about 64% in year 2010.
“Thanks to its capital and technical resources, the Bank was able to capitalize upon a strong performance of the Algerian economy in 2010 as a result of higher oil and gas prices at the world market,” said Mohammed Seddik Hafid, board member and general manager of the bank.
“As a result the Algerian economy is estimated to have grown by 3.8% in 2010 and likewise the current account surplus is estimated to have risen by 20.7% of GDP or $34.5 billion. Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at $ 148.1 billion, compared with total external debts of $ 5.5 billion previously. The average rate of inflation however deteriorated to an estimated 5.5% up from 4.6% in 2009”.