The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) on Wednesday said that it had achieved a net income of $193 million in 2010, an increase of 15% on the income achieved in 2009.
The bank said that the Group’s 2010 results reflects the ability in maintaining its financial performance and a steady state of growth over the past few years, even during the global economic crisis that crippled many financial institutions.
The Group also reported total operating income of $659 million in 2010, an increase of 4% over 2009.
The net income amounted to $193 in 2010 compared to $167 million in 2009, which reflects an increase of 15%. The net income attributable to equity of shareholders of the parent increased by 15% to reach $106 million compared to $92 million in 2009.
Operating assets (financing and investments) amounted to $11.4 billion as at the end of December 2010 compared to $9.4 billion at the end of December 2009, an increase of 21%. Customer deposit and other accounts and unrestricted investment accounts have witnessed a marked increase of 23% from $11 billion at the end of December 2009 to $13.6 billion at the end of December 2010.
As for the results of the last quarter of 2010, net income amounted to $46 million, compared to $30 million for the same period of last year, an increase of 51%. Total operating income increased to $195 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $180 million for the same period of last year, an increase of 8%. The net income attributable to equity shareholders of the parent increased by 33% to reach $22 million compared to $17 million for the same period of 2009.
The board has recommended a cash dividend of $39.5 million (5 cents per share) and a distribution of one bonus share for every 10 fully paid up shares amounting $79 million from the share premium after obtainment of the required official approvals.
“We are very proud to see continuing growth in the revenue and business of Al Baraka Banking Group and further elevation in its regional and global standing in spite of extremely difficult economic and financial conditions,” said Commenting on these results, Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of ABG.
“We consider the outstanding results achieved in 2010 as an embodiment of the success of the business model that we followed since the founding of the Group, a model that reflects the true values of Islamic banking and far- sighted business strategies, supported by outstanding management expertise capable of creatively translating these values and strategies to facts on the ground,” he added.
“The economic and financial developments witnessed by year 2010 were very difficult indeed and they further compounded the adverse repercussions arising from the global crisis that began during the last four month of 2008. Because of this crisis, financial institutions across the world were forced to adopt conservative and cautious business strategies,” said Abdulla Ammar Al Saudi, Deputy Chairman of ABG.
“The excellent results that we achieved in 2010 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 which has now nearly reached 370 branches in thirteen countries, 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 both at Group level and subsidiary banking units levels,” Adnan Ahmed Yousif, board member President and Chief Executive of ABG in a statement said.
“All these initiatives have contributed to maximizing the returns to the shareholders and investors of the Group. We were able to implement such initiatives because of the wide range of expertise we posses in the markets in which our units operate and the Group’s substantial financial and technical resources and the wide geographic network of the subsidiary units of the Group,” he added.