SICO reports third quarter, nine-month 2016 results

Manama : Securities & Investment Company (SICO) announced yesterday financial results for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2016 reporting an operating income of BD5.0m for the period, compared with BD6.8m for the same period last year.  

For the first nine months, the company reported a net loss of BD63 thousand after the provisioning of BD1.1 million against impairments of available-for-sale investments, compared with a net profit of BD2.3m for the 2015
period. 

SICO attributed the decrease of 103 per cent to the extremely volatile economic and market conditions. Basic earnings per share were a negative Bahraini 0.15 fils against a positive 5.36 fils for the first nine months of
 2015. 

For the third quarter, SICO reported operating income of BD1.35m against a loss of BD16 thousand for the previous year.  Net loss was BD485 thousand for the period compared with a loss of BD1.24m for the third quarter of 2015 representing an improvement of 61pc. Basic earnings per share were minus Bahraini fils 1.14 compared with a negative 2.89 fils in the prior year quarter. 

Commenting on the results, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of Securities & Investment Company, said: “Regional market performance had an adverse impact on SICO’s bottom line year to date, which is not reflective of the underlying core fee business performance. Total income remained relatively strong compared with the previous year, especially for the third quarter.”  

Year to date, brokerage and other income grew to BD1.37m from BD1.33m, while interest income increased to BD 865 thousand from BD524 thousand a year earlier. Net fee and commission income decreased to BD1.89m from BD2.60m, with net investment income reducing to BD868 thousand compared with BD2.32m for the corresponding period in 2015.

For the first nine months of 2016, staff-related and other operating expenses reduced to BD4.04m from BD4.45m last year. 

According to SICO Chief Executive Officer Najla M. Al Shirawi: “We will maintain our enduring commitment to reciprocate the trust and loyalty of our clients by identifying and delivering innovative new investment solutions to help them navigate through these challenging times, backed by our in-depth insight into regional markets.”