Al Baraka Q3, nine -month profit surge

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Al Baraka Banking Group yesterday posted profits that rose in the third quarter and nine-month period, thanks to lower provisions, strong expense disciple and improving macro-economic conditions.

“We have continued to achieve good results during the period, despite the unstable economic and financial conditions globally.

This achievement was made possible by our diverse resources and operating network, which enabled us to contain the repercussions of the pandemic on our operations and improve our performance and efficiency,” said Abdullah Saleh Kamel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Group.

Q3 results

Quarterly net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company surged 85% to US$ 37 million from US$ 20 m in the same quarter a year ago.

Earnings per Share were US Cents 3.04, compared to US Cents 1.62 in the year-ago quarter.

Total net income recorded was US$ 53 m, compared to US$ 42 m for the same period of 2020, registering an increase of 25%.

This was due partially to the lower provisioning levels allocated during the period, owing to the gradually improving macro-economic conditions in most of the countries of the Group’s operations.

Net allowances for expected credit losses reduced 65% to US$ 32 m from US$ 91 m during the same period last year.

Total operating income decreased by 20% to reach US$ 230 m compared to US$ 287 m during the same period last year, due to the impact of the devaluation of local currencies against the US dollar in some countries of the Group’s operations in addition to the higher cost of funding, resulting from significant increases in base rates in some markets.

Nine-month results

Net Income attributable to equity holders of the parent company was US$ 89 million, up from US$ 67 m for the same period in 2020, a growth of 34%.

Earnings per share were US Cents 6.09 compared to US cents 4.15 for the same period of 2020.

Total net income was US$ 146 m, up from US$ 132 m in the same period of 2020, registering a growth of 11%.

The increase in net income was predominantly a result of a strong expense discipline and lower provisions, supported by improvements in economic conditions.

The total operating income of the group was US$ 724 m during the first nine months of 2021, compared to US$ 839 m in the same period of 2020, a 14% decrease.

The decline in total operating income resulted mainly from the devaluation of local currencies against the US dollar in some countries of our operations in addition to the higher costs of funding.

Customer Accounts (which include Equity of Investment Account Holders, Customer Current and other Accounts and Due to Banks) increased by 2% from US$ 24.4 billion in December 2020 to US$ 24.9 bn at the end of September 2021.

Mazin Manna, member of the Board of Directors and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Group said, “Our operating and financial results continued to show improvement at both the Group and the Unit levels.

We have greatly enhanced our operating efficiency through stringent discipline towards control of expenses.

Our profitability has also improved due to better performance of some units and lower provisioning, owing to the gradually improving, albeit unstable, outlook and environment”.