MANAMA: Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), a prominent Islamic retail bank, announced its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2014 making a net profit of BD3 million, compared to net loss of BD 19.2 million reported in 2013. During the last quarter of 2014, the Bank has reported a net profit of BD 836,000 compared to a net loss of BD 19.2 million reported in the same period last year. With these results, the Bank returned to profitability and strengthened its financial position with a liquid assets ratio of 24.9% and capital adequacy ratio of 23.3%.
“The Bank has delivered strong results for the year ended 2014 which has been the product of execution and implementation of the Bank’s new strategy launched during the year,” Chairman of the Bank Dr. Ahmad Al Mutawa ’a, said.
“The strategy implemented focuses on growing the retail and high net worth business operations, small to medium/commercial business (SMEs) through providing innovative products and solutions to cater to each market segment. Furthermore, the strategy focused on improving customer experience by enhancing the banking channels externally to clients and improve the Bank’s support operations internally through restructuring the organization and implementing the latest required technology as an enabler and base for growth. The Bank’s results will contribute to achieving stability to the organization and pave the way to build on performance and achieve improved results in the coming years.”
“These outstanding results reflect the efforts made by the Bank employees during last period, and the vocational and higher commitment to achieve the goals set by our Board of Directors. Positive indicators of the Bank performance show a growth in total assets from BD 542.2 million in 2013 to BD 591.9 million in 2014, i.e. 9.2% growth from last year. Total net income growth doubled from last year, i.e. BD 14.6 million in 2014 compared to BD 7 million reported in 2013. It is worth mentioning that although the Bank has reduced its weighted average profit distributed to depositors, results show that these deposits has actually grown by 9.9%, from BD 391.9 million in 2013 to BD 430.5 million in 2014, which confirm our customer’s loyalty and their confidence in the Bank’s products and services,” KHCB’s Chief Executive Officer Khalil Ismaeel Al Meer, said.
“The Bank succeeded in promoting a comprehensive and complete variety of consumer finance products which include consumer finance, mortgage finance, auto finance, Visa credit cards, and alternative credit card (Easy 36). In addition, the Bank launched new Shari’a compliant Unrestricted Mudharaba account (Call Account) all of which have attracted positive response from clients. Furthermore, the Bank commits to offer our existing and new customers innovative and attractive products and services that meet their expectations alongside growing the Bank’s branch network by adding 3 more branches to better provide clients with accessibility and convenience. It is worth mentioning that the Bank opened its eighth branch in Zinj area during the year. The Bank has also introduced a new and improved Al Waffer account for the upcoming cycle to incorporate bigger prizes and greater chances for clients during the year 2015. The Bank will continue to focus on continued growth and achieving clients’ satisfaction, meeting their requirements and expectations by providing competitive products and services.”
Moody’s has assigned Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) first-time issuer ratings of Baa2/P-2 with a negative outlook on 8th January 2015. The rating reflects the bank’s high-risk loan book and reliance on market funding, balanced against substantial capital buffers and the benefits of government ownership.
The bank faces high credit risks from its lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-up companies, most of which are unable to access financing from commercial banks. The bank also has a mandate to create jobs and support social projects meaning that not all decisions are taken on a purely commercial basis. Problem loans are considerably higher than for overall the banking sector as a result (at 11.3% of assets vs. a sector-average of 7.2%).