MANAMA, 20 March 2007 — Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank, a leading publicly quoted investment bank, has approved all proposals by its board of directors, including a cash dividend payout of $47.7 million, or US cents 13.5 per share.
The distribution, a 138 percent spike over the $20 million offered last year, follows a milestone year for the Bank, which saw a five-fold surge in net profits from $37.6 million to a record $183.8 million last year.
It is also the first dividend payment since Ithmaar Bank went public last year following a hugely successful private placement and IPO that raised its paid-up capital to $360 million.
The held at the InterContinental Regency Hotel in Manama yesterday was presided over by Chairman Khalid Abdulla Janahi. Shareholders at the bank’s annual general meeting also approved the board’s proposal that $130 million be transferred to the retained earnings account and $16.8 million to the statutory reserve.
The assembly also approved a 4:1 split of the bank’s shares, bringing the nominal value of the shares to US cents 25 each and increasing the number of tradable shares four fold.
This goes in line with the majority of the companies listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange and provides a wider base for trading.
“I am also pleased to announce the approval of the ‘Ithmaar Education & Training Fund,’ a major new initiative that will give us a new way to contribute to the region’s growth and sustainable development,” Janahi added.
“Working in coordination with top-tier universities in the United Kingdom, this fund will provide high level training and post graduate education to promising young students from Bahrain and across the region. With an initial capital of $4.2 million, the project will be the first of its kind in Bahrain.”
“The region is at the beginning of a remarkable period of economic growth, which we are well positioned to take full advantage of.”