RIYADH, 17 April 2006 — Bank AlJazira posted yesterday a first quarter net profit of SR683.4 million ($182.2 million), up 817 percent from the same period last year. The bank’s net profit stood at SR74.5 million in the first quarter of 2005, AlJazira said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. Operating income rose 382 percent to SR816.9 million and shareholders equity more than doubled to SR3.3 billion at the end of March, 2006, it added. Customer deposits inched up 2.1 percent to SR9.15 billion and loans rose 13 percent to SR6.35 billion.
Gulf Bourses Must Allow Foreign Capital
DUBAI, 17 April 2006 — Gulf Arab governments must allow more foreign investment into their stock markets to replace the largely speculative retail capital that is scrambling for the exit, a leading Dubai-based investment banker said yesterday. Ali Al-Shihabi said any government intervention to support prices, like that which lifted Saudi shares off eight-month lows yesterday, would work only in the short-term. “The only structural move that can fundamentally change this model today would be to allow full and unencumbered foreign investment in local markets,” said Shihabi, chief executive of Rasmala Investments.
ADIB Net Profit Up 277.5 Percent
ABU DHABI, 17 April 2006 — Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank posted yesterday a 277.5 percent rise in its first-quarter net profit to 156.3 million dirhams ($42.55 million) compared to the same period in 2005. Operating income surged 384 percent to 742.7 million compared to 153.3 million and total assets rose 105 percent to 30.5 billion, of which 63 percent represent customer deposits, the bank said in a statement. Shareholder equity grew 34 percent to 2.07 billion.
MTC to Buy 65% of Nigeria’s Vmobile
KUWAIT, 17 April 2006 — Kuwaiti telecom services provider MTC said yesterday its Africa-based subsidiary Celtel had signed a conditional deal to buy 65 percent of Nigeria’s Vmobile for just over $1 billion. MTC, or Mobile Telecommunications Co., said in a statement on the bourse website that the deal included an option for the purchase of the remaining 35 percent of Vmobile. MTC said it expects negotiations to be concluded within a month.
