Salam International Investment (SIIL) has reported a 58% plunge in January-March net profit to QR11.61mn despite registering gross profit and tripled investment income.
An about 2% fall in operating income to QR498.92mn was made up by a 4% cut in operating cost, thereby helping the SIIL report a 6% gain in gross profit to QR144.75mn, according to its financial statement.
Investment income almost tripled to QR22.14mn and service and consultancy income rose 39% to QR1.06mn; even as other operating income fell 9% to QR1.76mn and other income by 87% to QR2.90mn.
Nevertheless, its total income was up 1% to QR176.63mn and share of profit from investment in associates gained 20% to QR0.97mn.
However, salaries and staff benefits gained 10% to QR68.44mn, general and administrative expenses by 20% to QR51.17mn and finance costs by 36% to QR22.51mn.
But there was a 33% slash in executive and general managers' bonus to QR0.98mn.
Total assets were valued at QR4.56bn comprising current assets of QR1.49bn and non-current assets of QR3.07bn.
Total equity stood at QR1.76bn on a capital base of QR1.14bn and earnings-per-share was QR0.10 at the end of March 31, 2013.
National Bank of Kuwait
National Bank of Kuwait, the Gulf state's largest lender, said yesterday that the local economy could pick up this year because of government spending on major projects.
NBK made the comments after reporting flat first-quarter net profit that beat analysts' estimates. Chief executive Ibrahim Dabdoub said the outlook for his bank's operating environment was brighter than in 2012, thanks to the government's decision to adopt a more active fiscal policy and to speed up construction of infrastructure.
"This is expected to boost economic activity and spur growth, creating new opportunities in the local economy," he said in a statement.
A 30bn dinar ($105bn) development plan was announced in late 2010 but has been delayed by disagreements between the cabinet and parliament, as well as entrenched bureaucracy. In recent months, a calmer political scene has raised hopes that the oil-rich state will proceed with the plan.
NBK made 81.3mn dinars of net profit in the three months to the end of March compared to 81.0mn in the same period a year ago, it said.
Analysts in a Reuters survey had on average predicted 77.7mn dinars of net profit for the first three months of the year.
At the end of the first quarter, NBK's total assets were 18.1bn dinars, up 25% from the same time a year ago. Shareholders' equity increased by 5% to 2.4bn.
NBK has branches in several Arab cities and foreign ones, including New York, London, Paris and Geneva.
Bank Muscat
Bank Muscat, Oman's largest lender, posted a 25.1% drop in first-quarter net profit, missing analysts' forecasts, as it booked a provision after some of its prepaid travel cards were hit by fraud.
The lender made a quarterly profit of Rial Omani 25mn ($64.9mn) in the three months to March 31, compared with a profit of RO33.4mn in the prior-year period, it said yesterday.
Five analysts polled by Reuters had, on average, estimated a first-quarter profit of RO26.5mn.
The bank's shares were trading down 0.9% at 0630 GMT on the Muscat bourse. The shares have risen 10.4% year-to-date.
Bank Muscat made a 15mn-rials one-off provision after some of its prepaid travel cards were hit by fraud, it added.
The lender said in late-February it would have to take an impairment charge of up to RO15mn after a small number of the cards were hit by fraud -- an amount United Securities calculated was around 10.5% of the bank's estimated 2013 earnings.
The cards allow users to carry currencies abroad rather than using their debit or credit cards in foreign countries, which can be expensive.
Credit impairments for the three-month period stood at RO7.4mn, down 40.8% on the corresponding period of 2012, the bank said..
Loans and advances grew to RO5.49bn at the end of the first quarter, up 10% from RO4.99bn at the same point last year. Deposits increased 9% over March 31, 2012, the bank said, rising to RO5.51bn from RO5.06bn.
Bank Muscat priced a $500mn bond on March 18, the first time it has printed a dollar deal since 2004.
It also raised RO75.1mn through an equity placement with the International Finance Corp, a unit of the World Bank, in February.
Union National Bank
Union National Bank, jointly owned by the governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, posted a 4.2% increase in first-quarter net profit yesterday, in line with analysts' forecasts, as operating income rose at the bank.
The Abu Dhabi-headquartered lender earned a net profit of Dh495mn ($134.8mn) in the first three months of 2013, compared with Dh475mn in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.
Analysts polled by Reuters forecast an average profit of Dh495.8mn in the first quarter.
Earlier yesterday, UNB said it had fully repaid the outstanding Dh1.7bn of support from the United Arab Emirates' ministry of finance which was placed with the bank in 2008 as part of a system-wide measure to protect the banking system from the global financial crisis.
It paid the first Dh1.5bn portion in March.
The bank's earnings benefited from a 4.7% increase in operating income versus the first quarter of last year.
This, in turn, was due to a year-on-year rise in net interest and Islamic financing income, up 3.9% to Dh642mn, and non-interest income, 7.7% higher at Dh176mn.
Deposits at the bank rose 6.9% in the quarter to total Dh67.8bn at March 31, up from the Dh63.4bn at March 31 2012 and December 31 last year.
Loans and advances rose marginally year-on-year, by 0.2%, to Dh58.2bn as at March 31.
HSBC upgraded UNB to 'overweight' from 'neutral' in a March 5 note, citing overdone pessimism towards the bank's loan loss provisioning, which could be blamed on UNB's lack of disclosure on key problematic exposures.
UNB shares rose 3.8% yesterday prior to the announcement of results, although only 2,500 shares were traded. The wider market slipped 0.1%.
Nakheel
Dubai property developer Nakheel, one of the biggest casualties of the emirate's real estate market crash in 2009, reported a 36% rise in first-quarter net profit yesterday as residential property prices and demand rebounded.
The government-owned firm posted a profit of Dh491mn ($133.4mn) in the quarter compared to Dh362mn in the corresponding period of 2012, Nakheel said in an emailed statement.
Revenue for the first quarter was Dh2.2bn, up 62% from a year earlier.
Nakheel delivered 770 homes in the first quarter including units at its palm-shaped island project, Palm Jumeirah, it said.
Dubai house prices plunged over 50% over several years from a 2008 peak as a property boom turned to bust, with Nakheel among the most high-profile corporate casualties. The real estate sector has been recovering since last year.
First-quarter earnings "reflect the continual recovery of Dubai's real estate market and solid investor confidence in Nakheel and its projects", Nakheel chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said in the statement.
The developer agreed on a $16bn debt restructuring in 2011 and scaled back grandiose plans, such as building a 1-kilometre high tower.
Nakheel said that since the restructuring it had paid over Dh1.1bn in loan interest and profit disbursements on Islamic bonds, and made cash payments of around 11bn dirhams to trade creditors and contractors.
Jarir Marketing
Saudi Arabia-based bookstore chain Jarir Marketing Co's first-quarter net profit rose 10.1% on the back of higher electronics sales, the firm said in a statement yesterday, beating the average forecast of analysts.
Jarir posted a net profit of 180.8mn riyals ($48.2mn) for the first three months of 2013, compared with 164.2mn riyals for the corresponding period of last year, it said in a bourse filing.
Nine analysts polled by Reuters had, on average, forecast a first-quarter net profit of 176.4mn riyals.
Turnover for the first quarter was 1.33bn riyals, 11.2% higher than the same three months of 2012, with the firm citing higher sales of electronics, in particular tablet computers and smart phones.
The company also proposed a cash dividend of 2.4 riyals per share for the first-quarter, it said in a separate statement.
Medicare Group
Medicare Group, which runs Al Ahli Hospital, has reported a 46% decline in net profit to QR24.35mn in the first three months of this year.
Operating income slumped 71% to QR101.44mn, while operating costs fell faster at 75% to QR54.47mn; translating as a 63% plunge in gross profit to QR46.97mn, according to its financial statement filed with the Qatar Exchange.
Income from deposits with Islamic bank fell 59% to QR0.24mn and other income by 68% to QR3.93mn.
However, general and administrative costs tanked 71% to QR19mn.
Total assets were valued at QR884.19mn comprising current assets of QR236.86mn and non-current assets of QR647.33mn.
Total shareholders' equity stood at QR790.66mn on a capital base of QR281.44mn and earnings-per-share was QR0.87 at the end of March 31, 2013.
© Gulf Times 2013
