Bank ABC Islamic reports Q1 net profit of US$4.4m

Manama : Bank ABC Islamic yesterday announced that its net profit for the first quarter of 2016 was US$4.4 million, 27 per cent lower compared to a record profit of US$6.1 m reported for the same period last year, but mainly due to a one off. 

It compares favourably to the fourth quarter 2015, which recorded profit of US$3.6 m. Fee, Commission and sale of investments were lower by $1.4m in 2016 due to the same one-off in 2015. Operating expenses were marginally higher at US$1.7m, compared with US$ 1.6m for the same period last year.

Shareholders’ equity at  March, 31 2016 stood at US$288m, compared to US$283m at 2015 year-end. The bank’s capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 28.5 pc.

ABC Islamic Bank’s total assets stood at US$1.361 billion at the end of the first quarter compared to US$1.344 bn at 2015 year-end.

Commenting on the results, Naveed Khan, Managing Director of ABC Islamic Bank said, “The first quarter of the year has been a challenging one, as the regional economic slowdown required proactive de-risking of the Bank’s balance sheet, with prudent pruning in the Contracting and Real-Estate sectors.” 

“Despite such pre-emptive measures the Bank retained similar margin income levels as 2015 with only a marginal increase in expenses. While the economic outlook for the region remains subdued, we take some comfort that the pro-active steps taken for de-risking will result in a stable asset portfolio,” he added.