MANAMA: Ithmaar Bank, an Islamic retail-focused bank, on Saturday reported a year-to-date profit of $4.3 million attributable to the shareholders, maintaining the steady growth rate of last year, when the bank reported a profit of $4.6 million for the same period.
The announcement, by Ithmaar Bank Chairman Prince Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal, follows the review and approval by the bank's board of directors of its consolidated financial results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2011.
"On behalf of the Ithmaar Bank board of directors, I am pleased to report that the bank continues to post profits, despite challenging market conditions," said Prince Amr. "The bank's year-to-date results indicate that our core retail and corporate banking activities remain a stable source of recurring income," he said.
"Ithmaar's half-year consolidated financial results show a net profit of $8.2 million, of which $4.3 million is attributable to shareholders of the Bank," said Prince Amr. "This compares to a profit of $8.3 million out of which $4.6 million was attributable to the shareholders for the same period last year. The profit for the second quarter of 2011 alone is $0.8 million, as against $0.3 million for the same period last year. This reflects on the bank's growing success after adapting to the current economic situation arising from a slower economy in general and the recent regional geopolitical developments," said Prince Amr.
"The bank aggressively pursued and made recoveries against provisioned assets and, as a result, was able to write-back a sizeable amount of $43.2 million. At the same time, adequate provision of $25.7 million was made for the new assets. This reflects on the bank's continued policy of adopting prudent impairment provisions on financings and investments," he said.
Ithmaar Bank's chief executive officer and member of the board, Mohammed Bucheerei said the asset base increased significantly by $326 million from $6.7 billion to $7.1 billion since December last year. Shareholders' equity remained strong at $661 million. Ithmaar's half-year results, made all the more significant by the challenging market conditions in which we operate, reflect the success of the bank's efforts to develop its core retail and corporate banking business."
© Arab News 2011
