Al-Sager: NBK-Bahrain’s profits reflect the success of our strategy for diversification of income sources and risk mitigation

Our broad geographical footprint gives us a strong competitive edge boosting our future growth and regional leadership

Fardan: Our profits prove our focus on strategic goals, sustained business growth and leading position

National Bank of Kuwait-Bahrain (NBK Bahrain) reported net profits of BHD 122.14 million (KWD 99.39 million) for the year 2022, compared to BHD 117.68 million (KWD 94.57 million) for the year 2021.

As of end of 2022, NBK-Bahrain’s total assets stood at BHD 7.24 billion (KWD 5.89 billion) compared with BHD 7.43 billion (KWD 5.97 billion) in 2021. Total shareholders’ equity increased by 12% y-o-y to BHD 1.087 billion (KWD 884 million), whereas Customers deposits Increased by 23% y-o-y to BHD 3.39 billion (KWD 2.76 billion) by end of December 2022.

Commenting on NBK Bahrain’s year-end financial results, Mr. Isam Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice Chairman and CEO said, “National Bank of Kuwait - Bahrain realized good profits for 2022, despite the challenging operating environment including escalating global geopolitical tensions and soaring inflation rates worldwide, and their impact on markets’ performance.”

“Our international operations are key contributors to the Group’s profits, which proves our resilient business model, and at the same time, the success of our regional expansion strategy in hedging against the risks and fluctuations, and its contribution to diversifying income sources,” he added.

Al-Sager noted that the Bahraini market is one of the key growth markets for NBK Group, given the promising growth opportunities and positive prospects of this market.

Al-Sager stressed that NBK will continue reinforcing its competiveness in the markets where it operates; as the Group’s broad geographical footprint gives us a strong competitive edge boosting our regional leadership and future business growth.

On his part, Mr. Ali Fardan, General Manager of NBK-Bahrain, said: “NBK-Bahrain’s results for 2022 prove our focus on strategic goals, sustained business growth and leading position in the Bahraini market, despite the challenges faced during this year.”

Fardan pointed out that the bank is moving steadily in strengthening its position in Bahrain by providing high-quality banking and financial services to its retail and corporate customers, noting that the bank has great potentials to achieve further growth in the Bahraini market in the future.

“Over the course of this year, NBK-Bahrain has been successful in providing various high-quality banking products and services that effectively helped meet customers’ needs and enrich their banking experience,” he highlighted.

Fardan praised the Central Bank of Bahrain’s efforts, in particular, and all government agencies, in general, for their continued support extended to NBK-Bahrain and the Bahraini banking sectors. He also highlighted that the great support extended by NBK Group has contributed to strengthening the Bank’s performance, through capitalizing on NBK’s high credit ratings, broad relationship network, and leading reputation as one of the top banks in the Middle East, and one of the safest banks in the world.

NBK is the largest financial institution in Kuwait with effective market dominance in the commercial banking market and has been consistently awarded one of the highest credit ratings among all regional banks from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings. NBK also stands out in terms of its local and international network, which includes branches, subsidiaries and representative offices in  many regional and global financial hubs including China, Geneva, London, Paris, New York, and Singapore alongside its regional presence in Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

About NBK:

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was established in 1952 as the first national bank and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Arab Gulf region. The National Bank of Kuwait achieved profits of USD 1.7 billion (KD 509.1 million) in 2022, while the Bank’s total assets reached USD 118.6 billion (KD 36.3 billion) by the end of 2022, and total shareholders’ equity reached USD 11.2 billion (KD 3.4 billion).

NBK is the largest financial institution in Kuwait and has actual predominance in the commercial banking sector. NBK maintained the highest credit ratings among all banks in the region, according to the agreement of the well-known global ratings agencies: Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch. NBK is also distinguished in terms of its local and global network, which extends to include branches and associate and affiliated companies in China, Geneva, London, Paris, New York, and Singapore, in addition to its regional presence in Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE.

NBK Long-Term Rating

• Moody's Credit Rating: A1

• Fitch Ratings: A+

• Standard & Poor's Rating: A