Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. (ABG), announced that it had achieved a large increase of 18% in its net operating income in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015. It also increased its equity by 4%and financing and investments by 3% at the end of June 2016 comparing to the end of December 2015.
The financial results of the Bank for the first half of 2016 showed an increase in total operating income by 19% to TRY 635 million compared to the same period in 2015. After deducting operating expenses, net operating income increased by 18% to TRY 270 million, but due to large increase in precautionary provisions as a result of general financial and economic conditions, the net income decreased by 12% to reach TRY 128million for first half of 2016.
As at the end of June 2016, the assets of the Bank reached TRY 29.4 billion, almost the same level of December 2015. Financing and investments portfolio increased by 3% to TRY 22 billion at the end of June 2016 compared to December 2015. While customer deposits decreased marginally by 2% to reach TRY 21.5 billion during the same period. The Bank also strengthened its shareholders equity by 4%to TRY 2.2billion as at the end of June 2016 compared to December 2015.
“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 six months of 2016. 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. Turkey 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,” Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank and President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, said.
“The Bank follows a strategy of expansion in the Turkish market through opening new branches in main areas and cities in Turkey in order to diversify customer base on one hand and to reach a wider class of investors and borrowers, where branch network reached 213 at present, with a commensurate expansion of its ATM network to 257. The bank also introduced a number of new products aimed at its commercial clients, including a supplier payment system and a suite of products geared to the food industry, once again expanding its already extensive product range, which includes a wide variety of consumer financing options, commodity and precious metal trading and savings and merchant financing supportive schemes. For the future, it will continue to grow its network of outlets and product innovations,” Mr. Adnan, 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 financing facilities to professionals and social housing,” Dr. Fahrettin Yahsi, Member of the Board of Directors and General Manager of Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, said.
“During the previous period, Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank launched the new core system for its banking business, which connects directly and online the businesses of all its branches. The new system provides a lot of technical and operational features that improve the quality and speed of banking services provided to customers. The project was accomplished in record time of less than two years and it is considered the first of its kind in the Turkish banking industry and at the same time the system is compatible with the principles of Islamic banking.”
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 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$ 2.1 billion. 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 700 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.
