?The agreement was signed by Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive and member of the board Mohammed Bucheerei and AUB Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Adel A. El-Labban at a ceremony held at the Ithmaar Bank headquarters.
?"The transaction marks the return of Ithmaar Bank to the credit markets after its reorganization and transformation into an Islamic retail-focused bank earlier this year," Ithmaar Bank said in a statement.
?Ithmaar Bank is listed on the Bahrain and Kuwait stock exchanges and holds a full Islamic retail banking license issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The bank has an established leading position in the Islamic banking industry. The bank's activities include retail banking, commercial banking, asset management and private banking.
?"We are pleased to have engaged in this significant Morabaha financing deal with Ahli United Bank,” said Bucheerei. “It clearly reflects our counterpart’s confidence in Ithmaar Bank's improving financial position and our ability to maintain a strong balance sheet and shareholders’ equity which, at the end of the nine month period ended 30 September 2010, stand at $5.5 billion and $796 million respectively. The bank also reported a strong financial performance for the third consecutive quarter this year."
?AUB is a regional banking group based in Bahrain with subsidiary and associate banks in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Iraq, Libya and the UK. The group provides retail, corporate, private banking and wealth management services, both conventional and Sharia-compliant to its customers.
