Bahrain's Ithmaar Bank Swings To 1Q Loss On Impairment Provisions

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

(This story was originally published Monday.)

BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Bahrain's Ithmaar Bank said Monday it swung to a loss of $452,000 in the first quarter of 2012, from a net profit of $4.79 million a year earlier, due to impairment provisions.

The Islamic retail bank said in a statement that it made a net operating income, before provisions for impairment and before overseas taxation, of $4.37 million, compared with a net operating loss of $2.78 million in the first quarter of 2011.

"A substantial part of the provision charge of $4.6 million during the first quarter is attributable to general provisions," Prince Amr Al Faisal, the bank's chairman, said in the statement posted on the Bahrain Bourse website. "Most of the income streams, from Ithmaar's core retail and commercial banking activities, continue to grow steadily," he added.

Total assets grew 3.9% to $7.17 billion at the end of March from $6.9 billion at the end of 2011, according to the statement.

The bank, which is listed on the Bahrain and Kuwait bourses, has an overseas presence through a number of units and affiliates.

-By Shikrallah Nakhoul, Zawya Dow Jones, +961 1 985757, shikrallah@zawya.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

15-05-12 0350GMT