BAHRAIN, 19 May 2006 — Al-Baraka Turk Participation Bank, one of the banking units of the Bahrain-based Al-Baraka Banking Group (ABG), has announced that its net profits increased by 29.9 percent in the first quarter of 2006, to $9.16 million compared to $7.05 million for the same period of last year.
The bank’s board of directors recently held a meeting in Istanbul chaired by Adnan Ahmed Yousif, chief executive officer of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG). The meeting approved the bank’s Q1 financial results and reviewed the progress on implementing the bank’s plan for opening branches and launching new products and services.
Expressing his pleasure at the good results that the bank achieved, Yousif said: “Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank being the first Islamic bank in Turkey holds a leading position in the Turkish market and offers all financing and investment banking products to its individual and corporate customers.” It has a network of branches that covers the major Turkish cities and comprises 49 branches following the opening of six new branches during this quarter.
“The bank’s achievement in terms of its net profits reflects an increase of 30 percent, thanks to the growth in the bank’s financing and investment assets as well as to the increased number of branches and improved operational efficiency,” he added.
The bank also achieved good rates of growth in its operation as at the end of March 2006, compared to March 2005. Total assets increased by 31.5 percent to $1.53 billion, deposits by 35.6 percent to $1.33 billion and the capital by 60.5 percent to $119.14 million while the shareholders’ equity increased to $136.93 million.
Yousif added that this growth reflects the success of the bank in exploiting the varied lucrative opportunities available in the Turkish market. “The performance of the Turkish economy is witnessing a noticeable improvement, which reflects positively on the investment climate and attracts more investment and financing opportunities,” he said.
On his part, ABG Chairman Shaikh Saleh Kamel said that he was pleased with the outstanding results that the bank achieved, and appreciated the efforts made by the executive management of the bank, the support extended by the parent Company to the subsidiary units and their joint actions within coordinated strategies.
“On this occasion, I’m also pleased to announce that, thanks to the support extended by the Bahrain Monetary Agency and all concerned authorities in Bahrain, ABG, in cooperation with the IPO financial adviser, Gulf International Bank, has completed all the preparatory steps for the IPO, in which shares will be offered for public subscription by individual, corporate and government investors in GCC countries by the end of this month.