Bank ABC Islamic announces 16.5% increasein 2019 year-end net profit to $37.3mln

Manama, Bahrain: Bank ABC Islamic has announced its financial results for the year ending 31 December 2019, which recorded net profit of US$37.3 million. The total operating income as well as net profitability has seen double digit growth as compared to 2018. Below are highlights of the Bank’s financial results.

Q4 Financial Results (three-month period)

• Net profit for the fourth quarter was US$8.5 million, 26.6% higher than the profit of US$6.7 million reported in the last quarter of 2018 year-end.
• Total operating income rose to US$12.1 million, 7.7% higher compared to US$11.2 million reported for the same period last year.
• Operating expenses were US$2.8 million, compared to US$1.9 million for the same period of last year.
• Allowances for credit losses for last quarter of US$0.7 million were lower by 73.6% when compared with the last quarter of the previous year of US$2.5 million, demonstrating continuing improvement in credit quality.

FY 2019 Financial Results

• Net profit for the year 2019 was US$37.3 million, 16.5% higher compared to US$32 million recorded for the previous year.
• Total operating income rose to US$46.7 million, 10.4% higher compared to US$42.3 million reported for last year.
• Operating expenses were US$8.5 million, 27.5% higher compared to US$6.6 million for last year. When adjusted for one-off reversals in 2018, the expenses for 2019 grew by 12.9%.
• Allowances for credit losses for the year were US$0.5 million, 85.3% lower compared to US$3.2 million reported during last year, which as noted above, demonstrating continuing improvement in credit quality.

Balance Sheet:

• ABC Islamic Bank’s total assets stood at US$2.079 billion at the end of 2019, compared to US$1.745 billion at the 2018 year-end.
• Shareholders’ equity at 31 December 2019 stood at US$365 million, compared to US$352 million at 2018 year-end.
• The Bank’s capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 30%, predominantly Tier 1, which totalled 29%.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Hammad Hassan, Managing Director of Bank ABC Islamic, said, “With the Grace of God, 2019 was another year of stellar performance for the Bank despite persisting challenging market conditions. This is a reflection of a focused approach towards building a credit worthy client base. Our efforts to servicing existing clients by providing bespoke and innovative Shariah compliant solutions, as well as proactive management and scrutiny over the credit portfolio is paying off. We remain committed to our strategy with its core tenets of (a) broadening and deepening our core franchise, (b) globalizing our capabilities across the ABC Group, and (c) enhancing our global operating model. We move in to 2020 with optimism whilst upholding the highest standards of Shariah compliance in our operations.”

-Ends-

© Press Release 2020