MANAMA: Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. (c), a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ithmaar Holding, reported a net profit of BD4.38 million for the first half of 2017. The net profit is attributable to equity holders of the Bank for the six-month period ended 30 June 2017 was BD1.54 million.
The announcement, by Ithmaar Bank Chairman His Royal Highness Prince Amr Al Faisal, follows the review and approval, by the Board of Directors, of the Bank’s consolidated financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2017. These are the Bank’s first half-year results since the successful completion in January this year of a planned reorganisation and the formal commencement of the new group structure and hence there are no comparatives.
“On behalf of the Ithmaar Bank Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that the Bank continues to report profits in 2017,” said HRH Prince Amr. “In the three-month period ended 30 June 2017, Ithmaar Bank reported a net profit of BHD1.3 million, with the net profit attributable to equity holders of the Bank for the period being BHD0.4 million,” he said.
“Ithmaar Bank’s half-year financial results show that the Bank is reporting continued profits and stable income for the year,” said HRH Prince Amr. “In the first half of 2017, the Bank recorded a net income, before provisions for impairment and overseas taxation, of BHD12.71 million, including BHD6.22 million for the three-month period ended 30 June 2017. The Bank recorded a total income for the first half of the year of BD76.44 million, including BD39.23 million for the three-month period ended 30 June 2017,” he said.
Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Abdul Rahim, said that efforts to continuously develop the Bank’s products and services, while also improving its customer service offerings and growing closer to its customers, were clearly paying off.
“Ithmaar Bank’s half-year financial results show that we are, indeed, on the right track as we work towards our shared vision of becoming one of the region’s premier Islamic retail banks,” said Abdul Rahim. “The results show that the Bank’s total assets grew by 5 percent over the past three months and stand at BHD3.26 billion as at 30 June 2017, up from BHD3.11 billion as at 31 March 2017. Accordingly, the equity of unrestricted investment accountholders grew by 4.8 percent during the same period to stand at BHD1.05 billion as at 30 June 2017, up from BHD0.99 billion as at 31 March 2017,” he said.
“This growth is, in a large part, a result of the unwavering focus on developing our core retail banking business,” said Abdul Rahim. “Ithmaar Bank operates one of the largest retail banking networks in Bahrain, and is widely recognised as one of the pioneer, most innovative Islamic banks in the region. We are confident that we will continue to build on this legacy by listening closely, and responding quickly, to our customers,” he said. “The Bank’s subsidiary, Faysal Bank Limited in Pakistan, opened 75 Islamic branches during 2016 as part of its branch expansion plan and has 50 Islamic branches planned for 2017, out of which 10 have been opened till 30 June 2017, making the number of total Islamic branches as 156 out of total of 364 branches,” he said
In May, for example, Ithmaar Bank introduced a new Sharia-compliant corporate credit card with Mastercard. The Card, which was tailored to meet the specific requirements of corporate customers, as well as business owners and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) customers, was developed a result of the Bank’s commitment to listening to, and delivering on, customer expectations. The corporate card allows for a one-stop payment solution which, ultimately, creates what could be the most convenient business payment solution for businesses.
In April, Ithmaar Bank became one of the first banks in Bahrain to be certified to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) v3.2, a prestigious, internationally-celebrated payment security certification that puts the Bank on par with some of the best in the world. The PCI-DSS is a data security standard for organizations that handle branded payment cards from the major card schemes. The PCI Standard is mandated by the card brands and administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. Ithmaar Bank earned the certification after successfully completing a comprehensive audit and demonstrating compliance to one of the most stringent and most coveted security standards in the world.
Earlier this month, Ithmaar Bank announced that it was honoured at a regional conference for its continuous support of the community and presented with the Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award for an Islamic Bank 2017 award in recognition of its various initiatives. The award was presented at the CSR Conference and Award for Islamic Banks which was held in Bahrain and attended by senior bankers, CSR experts and representatives of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as government and banking and finance officials both from Bahrain, as well from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, and the Republic of Djibouti.
