GFH H1 attributable net profit jumps 29.5% to $54.62mln

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GFH Financial Group has seen its first-half (H1) net profit attributable to shareholders jump 29.5% to $54.62 million compared with $42.38 million H1 2022, thanks to growth in contributions from all its business lines.

The Group reported net profit attributable to shareholders of $30.61 million for the second quarter (Q2), up 32.74.% compared with $23.06 million for Q2 2022. Major contributions included income generated from the placement of the Group’s global and regional investments, commercial banking business and treasury activities.

Earnings per share for H1 was US cents 1.55 compared to US cents 1.21 for the first six months of 2022. Total income for the first half of 2023 was $173.77 million versus $122.13 million for the 2022 period, an increase of 42.3%. Consolidated net profit for the six-month period increased by 26.0% to $57.19 million compared with $45.38 million in the first six months of 2022. Total expenses for the period were $116.58 million up 51.88% from $76.76 million for the first six months of 2022.

Total H1 equity

Total equity attributable to shareholders was $973.58 million at June 30, 2023 down 2.3% from $996.60 million at December 31, 2022. The decrease was the result of dividends paid for the previous year along with fair value changes and changes in treasury shares. Total assets of the Group increased by 5.9% reaching $10.34 billion at 30 June 2023 compared with $9.76 billion at 31 December 2022.

Meanwhile, earnings per share for the second quarter was US cents 0.86 compared to US cents 0.66 for the comparative quarter of 2022. Total income for the second quarter of 2023 was $86.83 million compared to $56.11 million for the second quarter of 2022, a rise of 54.7%.

Consolidated net profit for the second quarter was $32.75 million compared with $26.03 million in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 25.8%. Total expenses for the second quarter were $54.08 million compared to $30.08 million in the comparative quarter of 2022, an increase of 79.76%.

Thematic focus

Ghazi Al Hajeri, Chairman, GFH Financial Group, said: “The Group’s results and resilience are supported by a sharp thematic focus and concentration in attractive sectors and markets, where we will continue to build our presence. We’re also proud of the growing market confidence in GFH, our strategy and our progress, as recognised by Fitch during the second quarter, with the ratings agency reaffirming the Group’s ratings and stable outlook.

“Building on our positive momentum, we will continue to make strides across the business with the aim of further diversifying our operations, growing our revenues and building our portfolio of income-generating assets in key markets and across our core focus areas. As we do so, we remain committed to further strengthening our performance and returns for our shareholders.”

Hisham Alrayes, CEO and Board Member, GFH Financial Group, said: “The second quarter of the year saw GFH’s investments continue to deliver enhanced returns and value for the Group, our shareholders and investors. We are pleased with the strong growth in both income generation and profitability as we execute our strategy and take decisive steps towards further growth across our key business lines - investment management, commercial banking and treasury and proprietary investments.

“During the quarter, we were successful in placing more than $328.4 million of investments relating to our regional healthcare platform Healian and other funds we have launched, which build on our experience in the healthcare and logistics sectors as well as in the US markets. Despite market volatility, our treasury activities also performed well during the quarter and contributed to our results, as did our commercial banking subsidiary Khaleeji Bank. We aim to build on these core areas and are particularly focused at present on accelerating the expansion of the Group’s MEA and GCC-based regional investment platforms.

“This includes those in high-growth sectors such as healthcare and life sciences, education and logistics – which will allow us to capitalise on long-term structural growth tailwinds in the region and our strong track record and expertise gained through decades of investing in global markets. I am confident that GFH is well-positioned to continue its success throughout the remainder of the year and beyond. We have a strong team in place, a clear strategy and a focus on delivering value to our stakeholders.”

Investment management

GFH’s flagship regional healthcare platform, Healian, continued to go from strength to strength, successfully closing $250 million of investors’ capital commitments for immediate deployment during H2 2023.

This is a landmark achievement driven by robust sector and platform fundamentals, as well as the resilience of the GCC countries. Healian has a buy-and-build strategy targeting leading healthcare providers in underpenetrated regional gateway cities and highly specialised therapeutical areas such as cardiology, neurology, fertility, and endocrinology.

Healian has signed a number of deals, most recently in Saudi Arabia, and has a robust and actionable pipeline of opportunities at various stages of the acquisition process. GFH anticipates a potential listing of the platform on the more liquid regional exchanges in the forthcoming years.

Logistics Fund

Income of $25.97 million was generated from the Group’s GCC Logistics Fund and US Opportunistic Fund. The GCC Logistics Fund was launched following the Group’s highly successful European and US investments in the logistics sector with the aim of capitalising on the strong economic performance of the Saudi and UAE markets, while the US Opportunistic Funds allow the Group to capture opportunities in the US where it has deep market experience and specialist subsidiary asset managers on the ground.

The second quarter marked the launch of GFH Partners, a fully-owned subsidiary focused on expanding the Group’s global asset management capabilities with a particular focus on the real estate sector, where the Group currently manages over $6 billion of assets. Headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) with a global remit, GFH Partners manages assets in the stabilised and core markets of the US, the UK and the GCC, where it aims to capture and capitalise on strong economic growth prospects in these regions.

Britus Education

GFH’s education investment arm, Britus Education, announced its partnership with FraklinCovey Middle East Education to tailor a three-year development programme for Britus students and educators. The programme includes a comprehensive K-12 school improvement model.

During the first half of 2023, the Group’s commercial banking business, Khaleeji Bank (Khaleeji), reported continued progress and growth by recording a net profit of $18.44 million. Khaleeji’s gross income contributed 23.7% of the total income of the Group. Income from Khaleeji witnessed a 11.9% growth during the current period compared to the corresponding period of 2022.-- TradeArabia News Service