Manama: Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, a subsidiary banking unit of Bahrain headquartered Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), said its operating income was up 27% to TRY 1.3 billion for the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
The bank in a statement said that after deducting operating expenses, net operating income increased by 12% to TRY 715 million, while net income reached TRY 183 million (US$ 84 million) for first nine months of 2014, an increase of 21% compared to same period in 2013.
The bank had reported a 21% increase in its net profit in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period of 2013.
The bank’s equity was up 11%, total assets by 26%, deposits by 23 % and financing and investments by 23% at the end of September 2014 comparing to the end of December 2013.
“Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, because of its possession of extensive resources and a wide branch network, was able in the first nine months of 2014 to capitalize upon the circumstances arising from the world crisis to expand its investment and financing portfolio and at the same time strengthen its liquid assets to enable it deal with all possibilities,” the bank in a statement said.
“At the end of 2014, the assets of the Bank increased by 26% to TRY 21.7 billion (US$9.5 billion) compared with TRY 17.2 billion in December 2013. This increase was invested to finance the growth in financing and investments which increased by 23% to TRY 16 billion (US$ 7 billion) at the end of September 2014 compared to December 2013. This growth, in turn, was financed by increasing the Bank’s range of investment products and branch network which led to an increase of 23% in customer deposits and equity of investment account-holders to reach TRY 15.4 billion (US$ 6.8 billion) at the end of September 2014, which funded 71% of the total assets of the Bank, reflecting the Bank’s strong customer deposit base. The Bank also strengthened its shareholders equity by 11% to TRY 1.7 billion (US$ 748 million) as at the end of September 2014 compared to December 2013,” the statement added.
“Given the difficult political and economic conditions prevailed the banks environment in the previous period, we are very pleased with the excellent results that the Bank achieved in first nine months of 2014. Such excellent achievements were the result of the hard work of the executive management and all the employees of the Bank as well as the strong support that the parent company (ABG) extends to its subsidiary banks, which helped to consolidate the Bank’s position in the Turkish market,” Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank and President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Adnan Ahmed Yousif said. He said Turkey would remain is one of the key markets for the Group because of the diversity and abundance of economic activities and huge promising opportunities that it offers.
“The Bank opened 20 new branches over the past nine months, which brought the branch network up to a total of 187 branches. For 2014, Al Baraka Turkey intends to maintain the momentum of the present rate of branch expansion, opening 30 new branches in accordance with its current plan to establish a network of 330 branches by 2018. Its ATM network is set to expand by a similar order of magnitude,” he added.
“The bank’s product range was again enhanced, with the introduction of finance packages tailored to the needs of small businesses (micro-finance), e-participation accounts, cumulative participation accounts and dentists’ financing facilities. Through its participations program, the Bank contributed to building 14 thousand housing units in three years,” Fahrettin Yahsi, Member of the Board of Directors and General Manager of Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, said.
“During the past months, we have been working hardly to reengineer all the Bank’s processes, operations and structure in order to further enhance the quality of services to all types of customers, which increased remarkably with the growth of branch network.”
“Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank concluded recently the issuance of Islamic Sukuk worth US$ 350 million in the form of Sukuk Al Wakala-Murabaha Given the large orders received by the Issue, the value of total subscriptions reached US$ 750 million, more than double the required amount. Many banks, financial institutions and investment funds from different main world financial centers participated in the Issue with 61% from Middle East, 31% from Europe and 8% from Asia. In terms of investors’ type, 80% of them were banks and financial institutions, 8% Funds, 6% Hedge Funds and 6% Agencies. We are indeed delighted at the large success of the Islamic Sukuk of the Bank, given the prevailed fluctuated financial markets and world economic conditions,” Yahsi, said.
Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totalling around one billion. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national scale with a Stable outlook by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor’s at BB+ (long term) / B (short term). Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2billion.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 500 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.