MANAMA, 19 October 2007 — Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) is poised to raise BD50 million through rights offering, the bank in a statement said. The offering will kick off on Oct. 21 and will be closed on Nov. 4. The raised money, the bank said, will be used to finance its aggressive growth strategy as envisaged in its current corporate strategic plan.
The bank will issue 100,000,000 new ordinary shares at BD0.500 each on a rights privileged subscription. The shares that are subject of the offering will be treated in par and will rank at the same rate with all other ordinary shares of the bank, including the right to receive future dividends when declared.
Dr. Farid Ahmed Al-Mulla, BBK general manager chief executive officer said: “The main purpose of raising capital through this rights issue is to support the bank’s growth plans both through expansion and diversification, as the bank positions itself to take advantage of the favorable market conditions. The additional capital would also reinforce the bank’s position in relation to Basle II capital requirements.”
Copies of the information memorandum and application form will be available for collection from BBK, SICO and KPMG Fakhro during the subscription period.
BBK BSC incorporated on March 16, 1971 and it has grown steadily since then to become a leading commercial bank with shareholders’ funds of BD179 million and total assets of BD2.1 billion as of June 30, 2007. The bank currently operates through its 16 branches in Bahrain, one branch in Kuwait, two branches in India and a representative office in Dubai.
Separately, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) posted a 28.3 percent rise in third-quarter profit chiefly on gains from investment in the booming local bourse and from currency dealings.
The country’s fourth-biggest lender by market value made a net profit of 31.27 million dinars ($112.2 million) compared with 24.38 million dinars in the year-earlier period, it said in a statement on the bourse website.
This was above the 28.92 million dinars Global Investment House analysts had forecast in a Reuters survey and CBK’s second-highest quarterly profit, according to Reuters data going back to 2004.
Net interest income growth lost some pace, rising 7 percent in the first nine months after 12 percent in the first half, CBK said. Growth in income from fees and commissions rose 8 percent in the first nine months. Net investment gains jumped 111 percent in the first nine months, outpacing the 20 percent gain in the first half, Chairman Abdulmajeed Al-Shatti said in a statement. The bank had sold its 11.89 percent stake in mortgage firm Housing Finance over the market.