BMB Posts $9.2 Million Profit

MANAMA, 16 August 2005 — Bahrain’s BMB Investment Bank (BMB) announced yesterday its mid-year results for 2005 with a surge in profit to $9.2 million from a loss of $0.5 million in the corresponding period. The results show a third consecutive quarter of return to profitability for the bank. The profit for the second quarter of 2005 stood at $3 million versus a loss in the second quarter of 2004 of $2.1 million. Income from investments played a major role in this profitability and amounted to $19.3 million, up 338 percent from the first half of 2004 income from investments of $4.4 million. This was partially offset by a loss of $3.9 million in foreign exchange versus a loss of $0.2 million in the first half of 2004.