US$ 55.2 million profits before tax by Jordan Islamic Bank for the first half of 2019

The Board of Directors of Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB), which is one of the banking units of Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C, headed by Mr. Musa Abdelaziz Shihadeh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, approved the financial statements for the first half until 30/6/2019. However, the bank’s net profits before tax amounted to about US$55.2 million compared to about US$49.4 million for the first half of 2018 and a Growth rate about 12%, where profits after tax amounted to about US$34.6 million compared to about US$32.9 million in the same period of 2018 and with a growth rate about 5%.

Mr. Musa Shihadeh commended the Bank's banking policy to continue its career in the service of the national economy and maintain its achievements despite the continuing unstable conditions in the region. He also appreciated the Bank's management and employees for their outstanding performance in implementing the Bank's strategy and maintaining its distinguished position in the Jordanian banking sector, stressing the Board's keenness to enhance the Bank's ability to continue developing its performance to keep abreast of the developments in banking in accordance with the provisions and principles of Islamic Sharia.

Shihadeh pointed out that the bank has completed all approvals and formal procedures to raise the bank’s capital to 282.1 million dollar / share instead of 253.9 million dollar / share in implementation of the Extraordinary General Assembly decisions held on 29/4/2019 to increase the bank's capital by 28.2 million dollar / Share with 11.11% as free shares and amend the fifth item in the Memorandum and Article of Association. The increase was covered by capitalizing 14.1 million dollar from the balance of the retained earnings account and 14.1 million dollar from the balance of the voluntary reserve account. The bank also distributed 15% of the paid up capital as cash dividends to shareholders for the year 2018.

On his part, the President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif said, “ The achievements of Jordan Islamic Bank highlights its obvious role in the consolidation of the Bank’s experience in the Islamic banking sector,  especially being the first and the largest Islamic bank in the Jordanian banking sector. It is not surprising therefore, that JIB now occupies a prominent position with highest standards in their offering of Islamic banking services and products covering a wide segment of customers – both individuals and institutions that meets the needs of Jordanian society.

Concerning the financial statements, Dr. Hussein Said, CEO / General Manager of JIB said that most of the Bank's financial indicators until 30/6/2019 confirm the sound implementation of the strategic plan adopted by the Bank's management to maintain its distinguished status in the banking sector, its positive performance, strong and rigid business model that is based on diversification and targeting various sectors of individuals and companies while focusing on its main activities and taking advantage of the geographic reach of the Bank's branching networks. The bank’s assets including (restricted investment accounts, Al Wakala bi Istithmar (investment portfolios)) amounted to about US$6.695 billion by the end of H1 2019 compared to about US$ 6.513 billion by the end of 2018, with a growth of 2.8%.

Clients' deposits including (restricted investment accounts, Al Wakala bi Istithmar (investment portfolios)) amounted to about US$ 5.955 billion by the end of H1 2019 compared to about US$ 5.763 billion by the end of 2018 with a growth of 3.3%.

Facilities granted for customers including (restricted investment accounts, Al Wakala bi Istithmar (investment portfolios)) amounted to about US$ 5.144 billion by the end of H1 2019 compared to about SU$ 5.008 billion by the end of 2018, with a growth of 2.7%.

 Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) amounted to about 22.32 %. The Return on Average Equity (ROAE) reached about 12. 49%. The Return on Average Assets (ROAA) reached about 1.17%.

During the first half of this year, the Bank continued to expand its geographical reach by opening new branches and offices and converting offices into branches. JIB also received several awards from regional and international institutions, in recognition of the Bank's excellence in providing Islamic banking services and products in the Jordanian banking market. The Bank continues to carry out marketing campaigns for banking card users of all kinds and electronic banking services such as I- Banking and Mobile Banking in addition to enhance the social responsibilities of the bank through the positive interaction with social initiatives to serve the local community and national economy.

About Al Baraka
Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. (“ABG”) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain and is listed on Bahrain Bourse and NasdaqDubai. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion.

The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in 17 countries, which in turn provide their services through over 700 branches. Al Baraka Banking Group has operations in Jordan, Egypt, Tunis, Bahrain, Sudan, Turkey, South Africa, Algeria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and Germany, in addition two branches in Iraq and two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.

ABG and its Units offer retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari'a. The authorized capital of ABG is US$ 2.5 billion.

ABG is rated BB (long term) / B (short term) by Standard & Poor's and BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) by Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA). IIRA has also rated ABG on the national scale at A+ (bh) / A2 (bh) with a fiduciary score of 81-85, the highest level amongst Islamic Financial Institutions in the region.

© Press Release 2019