Seera posts $2.8m net profit for 2015

Manama : Seera Investment Bank B.S.C.(c), a Shari’a compliant investment bank headquartered in Bahrain, announced its results for the year ended December 31 2015, reporting net profit attributable to shareholders of $2.8 million for the year, compared to a loss of $52.3 million for the previous year. 

The net profit attributable to shareholders for the fourth quarter 2015 was $2.4 m compared to a loss of $24.6 m for the same quarter last year. The increase in income is mainly attributable to fees on the acquisition and structuring of new investments and gains from exits completed during the year. 

As reported in the published summary financial statements, total assets of the Bank as of December 31 stood at $169.1 m. Investment in Ijarah Assets, representing Seera’s investment in Falak Aviation Fund, has declined to $74.1 m compared to $119.3 m in the previous year. 

This decline represents a significant de-risking of the Bank’s aviation portfolio from 11 aircraft in 2007, to 3 aircraft at present. These disposals are a result of Seera’s focused strategy to reduce its exposure to the aviation sector following the 2008 financial crisis. 

Hamad Al Ameeri, Seera’s Chairman of the Board of Directors commented, “Seera’s strategy to de-risk its exposure in the aviation sector together with exits from a number of other investments has strengthened the Bank’s balance sheet and enabled it to end the year with liquid assets of $43 m and a Capital Adequacy ratio of around 27pc, providing a strong platform for continued growth.  Furthermore, the Bank’s liabilities at end of the year reduced to $21.4 m compared to $56.8 m in the previous year, primarily from the repayment of the debt on various aircraft from sale proceeds.” 

Abdulla Janahi, Seera’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “During the early part of the year, the Bank’s investment in the development of dementia care homes in the UK was very well received by our investors. The project is ahead of schedule and planning permission was obtained 9 months ahead of schedule.” 

Janahi added “Although global and regional markets are currently impacted by low oil prices, there are positive indications that the current situation will not persist for long with many analysts expecting improvements to happen towards the end of the year. A number of potential investments are already in the pipeline and are expected to be completed during the next few months. In addition, the Bank will continue to opportunistically exit from certain existing investments and a number of such exits are being explored.”

Seera has investments in the transportation and real estate sectors in addition to smaller investments in the utilities and energy sectors.