Kingdom-based wholesale bank, Bahrain Middle East Bank (BMB) said yesterday it posted a net profit of $4.1 million, up from the losses of $19.7 million it suffered during the corresponding period last year.
Making a swift turnaround, the bank recorded a net profit of $1.7 million for the first quarter of the fiscal, up from the loss of $5.7 million in the corresponding period last year.
At the end of the first half of the year, fair value reserves stood at $6 million compared to $ 1.3 million at the end of June 2009.
Capital adequacy continues to remain sound at 17 per cent.
"The results remain testament to our continued effort and commitment towards strengthening various aspects of the bank's business, cost and efficiency improvements and general improvement to the overall internal control environment and risk management framework," said the Chairman of the bank, Wilson Benjamin.
He said the bank was evaluating several options for sustained growth and diversity and looking ahead with 'a great degree of hope and optimism'.
Akbar Habib, the bank's Chief Executive Officer, said the bank was planning to attract new capital to 'seize opportunities currently at hand and broaden its scope in terms of scale'.
"Our multi-pronged strategy has proved to be resilient to global financial challenges as evident from the continuous improvement in the overall operating results achieved despite challenges faced on many fronts," he said.
Operating expenses reduced by 45 per cent to $3 million from $5.5 million during the same period in 2009 reflecting positive results of the successful restructuring efforts.
"The bank's focus remains on the bigger picture and to bring to fruition our vision to emerge as a modern, self disciplined and dynamic financial institution. Our vision is to emerge as a leading niche wholesale financial institution and a multi dimensional financial services and solutions provider in the region and beyond," they said.
The bank suffered a net loss of BD33.54 million for 2009, compared to a loss of BD14.31 million for the same period last year.
By K.V.S. Madhav
© Bahrain Tribune 2010
