DAMMAM: The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), an investment company established in 1975 by the 10-member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), has announced its 2014 full year consolidated financial results for the period ending Dec. 31, 2014.

APICORP achieved strong revenues over the year, with total income increasing to $156.28 million compared with $149.82 million in 2013, and net profit before provisions growing to $118.51 million from $111.22 million for the previous year.

However, given the uncertain geopolitical outlook for some areas of the MENA region, the company took the prudent step of building up an investment provision of $13.48 million. This resulted in an adjusted net profit of $105.03 million for 2014.

As of Dec. 31, 2014, total assets had grown to $5.88 billion, with shareholders’ equity increasing to $1.86 billion.

During the year, APICORP successfully finalized three Shariah-compliant medium-term funding facilities totaling $1.2 billion, which is aligned with the company’s strategy of improving its terms of funding facilities and better managing its cost of funds.

This was reinforced by Moody’s reaffirming the company’s foreign currency issuer rating of Aa3 for long-term debt, and Prime-1 for short-term debt, with a stable outlook, for the third consecutive year.

APICORP’s balance sheet remains robust, with significant liquidity of $983 million and a very healthy capital adequacy ratio of 28.8 percent.

APICORP’s Chairman Aabed bin Abdulla Al-Saddoun said: “2014 was a solid but challenging year, punctuated by continued uneven global economic growth, ongoing regional geopolitical tensions, and a dramatic decline in oil prices during the fourth quarter. Against this backdrop, we adopted a dynamic but prudent approach, continuing to grow the business while maintaining a conservative risk profile.”

“Looking ahead, it appears likely that markets will continue to be challenging and varied across the MENA region, but we have identified a number of promising new business opportunities. The latest IMF World Economic Outlook forecast economic growth in the MENA region at 2.7 percent in 2015 and 3.7 percent in 2016. Our own research shows that cumulative MENA energy investment will reach $755 billion over the next 5 years.”

“As we enter our 40th year in operation, we will continue to focus on commercializing our offering and capitalizing on new growth opportunities in the regional energy sector.”