GFH AGM okays 10pc dividends

Manama : GFH Financial Group (GFH) yesterday announced receiving shareholders’ approval for its annual audited financial statements for 2016. 

Shareholders also okayed its recommendation for the allocation of net profits for the year and the distribution of 10 per cent cash dividends for a total sum of US$59.8 million as well as approval to distribute 10pc bonus shares.

In addition, the shareholders have proposed to increase the cash dividends to 12pc instead of the approved 10pc, subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.    

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) for the twelve-months ended 31 December 2016 also saw shareholders approve a number of agenda items pertaining to the Group’s financial statements, reporting and governance. The meetings were held at its Bahrain Financial Harbour headquarters.  

Dr. Ahmed Al Mutawa, Chairman of the Board of GFH, presided over the meetings. Also present were members of the Board of Directors, senior management of the Group, auditors, representatives from Central Bank of Bahrain and Ministry of Industry and Commerce. 

The meeting also saw the recommendation and appointment of new Board of Directors for Group for the next three years (2017 – 2019). The new directors were Shaikh Ahmed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Dr. Ahmed Al Mutawa, Jassim Mohammed Al Seddiqi, Kamal Abdulla Bahamdan,  Mazin Mohammed Al Saeed, Mosabah Saif Al Motairi, Rashid Nasser Al Kaabi, Ghazi Faisal Al Hajri, Bashar Mohammed Al Mutawa and Hisham Ahmed Alrayes.

The Shari’a Supervisory Board and Corporate Governance reports were also approved, as was the reappointment of the auditors and the Shari’a Supervisory Board for the year 2017. 

The EGM reviewed and approved a number of matters including recommendation to increase the authorized capital to US$2.5bn and endorsing GFH’s new strategy to acquire financial institutions, infrastructure investments, and investment assets by way of swapping the shares of the investors and shareholders of the target companies with GFH shares through issuance of new shares by increasing the issued and paid up capital from US$597.99 million up to US$1.49 billion. 

Commenting on the proceedings, Dr. Ahmed Al Mutawa, Chairman of the Board, said, “We are pleased that we have concluded 2016 year with great results and today shareholder where supportive and extremely happy during the meetings.”

Hisham Alrayes, GFH Chief Executive Officer, said:” GFH has outperformed the previously approved strategy and today we start another successful journey (Inshallah) to achieve higher value for our shareholders and creation of outstanding financial group in the region.”