The bank reported a net profit of $400,000 for the first quarter ended 31 March 2012, as compared to a net loss after provisions of $4.5 million recorded over the corresponding period in 2011. In addition, the Bank has witnessed healthy growth in both its loan portfolio and customer’s deposits as a result of several key reward-based promotions and services that were rolled out during the period.
“I am pleased with our first quarter financial results; the third consecutive net quarterly profit for our Bank, achieved against a tough operating environment which we believe will remain difficult and challenging. Our performance reflects the positive momentum achieved across all our business units within Bahrain, Qatar and Seychelles as well as at our associate in Kenya, Gulf African Bank (21.33% owned by BMI Bank) through the support of both existing and new customers,” Jamal Al-Hazeem, Chief Executive Officer of BMI Bank, while commenting on the bank’s first quarter performance, said.
In line with our core strategy of developing a stronger retail business within Bahrain, we launched several reward based promotions on our bouquet of products including a ‘swipe to spin and win’ promotion on our range of credit cards. We refreshed our flagship retail savings scheme Ayadi to bring in bigger ‘life-changing’ prize money during the three Eids and rolled out two new products in Bancassurance, demonstrating our commitment to provide customers with valuable and competitive financial solutions that exceed their expectations.
During the quarter we were also honored with three prestigious awards for our online channels at the 3rd Pan Arab Banking Web Awards as well as with a J.P. Morgan Chase – Straight Through Processing (STP) award for 2011 in recognition of our superior quality and consistently high performance in the area of international money transmissions and diligent processing of payments. This has helped to consolidate our position as a key player amongst local retail and commercial banks within the country.
“Our priorities for the business going forward remain unchanged. Backed by our excellent capital position and strong liquidity we will continue to invest in our business, brand and people to consistently deliver innovative products and services as we grow our branch and ATM network further consolidating our position as a strong Bahraini Bank.”