Bank's assets rise 48% to $3.47b
Albaraka Turk Participation Bank (ATPB), a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group (ABG), announced a substantial increase of 131 per cent in its net operating income and 118 per cent in net income at end of first half of 2008.
The bank also posted strong gains in all major segments during the same period as the shareholders' equity increased by 25 per cent, total assets by 48 per cent, deposits by 49 per cent and finance and investments by 58 per cent.
The annualised returns on average equity and average total assets showed significant improvements to reach 21 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively in the first half of 2008.
The assets of the bank increased by 48 per cent to reach $3.47 billion compared to $2.35 billion during the same period of last year. This increase was the result of a significant growth in the murabaha, Ijarah Muntahia Bittamleek and investment operations which increased by 58 per cent to reach $2.82 billion in total as at the end of June 2008. The bank financed this growth by increasing the number of its branches and the range of investment products it offers, which in turn increased the customer deposit accounts and unrestricted investment accounts by 49 per cent to reach $2.85 billion as at the end of June 2008 - which financed 81.9 per cent of the total assets of the bank. The remaining assets were financed by the shareholders equity which was enhanced by 25 per cent to reach a total of $448.79 million as at the end of June 2008.
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, chairman of the board of directors of ATPB and president and chief executive of ABG, said: "This excellent performance is the result of the hard work of the executive management and all the employees of the bank as well as the strong support that ABG extends to its subsidiary. The Bank now ranks first in terms of total assets and deposits per branch and per employee."
Adnan said the bank was able to build upon the big success achieved by the public offerings of its shares last year which was oversubscribed 32 times and fetched $5.4 billion. "The IPO enhanced that capital resources of the Bank and provided it with the capabilities to embark upon a major expansion in its branch network and the launching of more new high quality Sharia-compliant investment and financing products and services. This had a very positive impact on the income from all operations especially the income from jointly financed accounts and investments as well as the income from the Bank's own financing and investment operations."
The general manager of ATPB and board member Dr Adnan Buyukdeniz said that the Bank, after the huge success of the IPO last year, was now seeking to invest its capital resources and the strong support of the parent company in expanding its branch network and the launching of more high quality products and services at competitive prices. "The branch network witnessed a rapid expansion, increasing from about 20 branches in 2003 to 100 in 2008. We intend to increase the branch network to 200 branches in the next three years, each with its own ATM for customer use."
By Mahmood Rafique Business Correspondent
© Bahrain Tribune 2008
