The annual general and extra ordinary general meetings were chaired by the Abdulla Ammar Al Saudi, Deputy Chairman of ABG on behalf of the Chairman of the board Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel and members of the board.
The combination of bonus share and cash dividend includes distribution of one bonus share for every 30 fully paid up shares held by the shareholders registered as of the date of this meeting, amounting to $33.8million, from the retained earnings after obtaining the required official approvals. In addition, meeting approved the payment of cash dividend of $35.5 million for the year 2012.
The meeting also approved the transfer of 10% of the net income of $13.3million to the Statutory Reserve and the transfer of $84.2million t the retained earnings.
During extraordinary general meeting the shareholders approved the increase of the issued and paid up share capital by transferring $33.81 million to the share capital and issue bonus shares of one share for every 30 fully paid up shares to the shareholders registered as of the date of this meeting.
“We consider the outstanding results achieved during year 2012 as a clear embodiment of the success of the business model that we followed since the inception of the Group, a model that reflects the true values of Islamic banking and insightful business strategies coupled to the excellent managerial expertise available to the Group that enabled it to translate these values and strategies to facts on the ground in a creative way,” Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of ABG in a statement said.
“These strategies not only enabled us to deal in a prudent manner with the repercussions of the global economic and financial crisis, but also further expand our business while at the same time continue our programs in geographic expansion and build up the branch network of the Group as well as enhance our human and technical capabilities,” Sheikh Saleh added.
“The economic and financial developments witnessed by year 2012 further compounded the adverse conditions arising from the global financial crisis. Because of this crisis, financial institutions all over the world were forced to adopt conservative and cautious business strategies. In view of these developments and conditions, the financial results achieved by the Group in 2012 can be viewed as excellent by all standards. These results reflect the success of the business strategies that we at the Board of Directors of the Group have put in place,” Abdulla Ammar Al Saudi, Deputy Chairman of ABG, told the shareholders.
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, member of the Board of Directors and President and Chief Executive of ABG, while lauding the results said the payments of cash dividend and bonus shares reflect the outstanding results that we achieved in 2012.
“These results were the outcome of a number of initiatives that we had launched during the past year including continually improving the quality of our products and services, introducing more innovative products, expanding the branch network of ABG subsidiary units, strengthening relationships with our partners, investors and customers, and entering new markets as well as modernizing and developing our human, operational, regulatory and technical infrastructures at both Group and subsidiary banking units levels. All of these initiatives have contributed to maximizing the returns to the shareholders and investors of the Group,” he added.
The shareholders praised the performance of the Group in year 2012 and the excellent financial results that it achieved, especially that all units of the Group contributed to the results, which enhances the confidence in the future performance of the Group which is based on diversity, depth and commitment to the highest professional and ethical standards.
The Group had reported net profit of $235 million for 2012, an increase of 11% on the income achieved in 2011. Similarly, statement of financial position items witnessed good increases. Total assets increased by 11%, total financing and investments by 21%, deposits including equity of investment account-holders by 12% and total equity by 9% at the end of December 2012 in comparison with the end of December 2011. The Group’s results in year 2012 emphasize the operational and earning sustainability that the Group enjoys, which maintains its financial performance in a steady state of growth over the past years, based on the robustness of the business strategies of the Group, its wide geographical network, sound financial, technical and human resources, and growing customer base, despite the extreme difficult economic and banking environment during the past year.