GFH Q1 2023 profit rises 25.6% to US$24.01 mln

TDT | Manama                                                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

GFH Financial Group yesterday reported a 25.6% rise in its first quarter 2023 profit, which the company attributed to growth across its core investment banking, treasury and commercial banking business lines.

First quarter net profit attributable to shareholders was US$24.01 million, up 25.6% from US$19.12 m in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share was US cents 0.73 compared with US cents 0.54 in the prior-year quarter.

Total income rose 31.7% to US$86.93 m from US$66.02 m in the first quarter of 2022. Consolidated net profit was up 26.3% to US$24.44 m while total expenses grew 33.9% to US$62.50 m from the same-quarter a year ago.

Ghazi Al Hajeri, Chairman of GFH, said, “Despite ongoing volatility across global markets, our investment strategy and diversification are working well in such economic cycles. Having entered the year with good momentum, we look forward to building on these results and generating even greater value for our investors and shareholders in the forthcoming periods.”

Hisham Alrayes, CEO and Board Member of GFH, added, “We have been able to undertake key investments during the last six months and successfully place funds of our regional healthcare platform, Healian, with investors.

Our commercial banking subsidiary, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, has also been successful in adjusting to high-interest rates during the period and achieved sound growth.

Similarly, our Treasury business has been able to rebalance its portfolio and achieve good gains during the first quarter. We aim to further build our portfolio of income generating assets in the GCC, where economic growth is expected to continue in the coming periods.”

Currently, GFH manages over US$17.6 billion of assets and funds including  a global portfolio of investments in logistics,  healthcare,  education and technology in the MENA region, Europe and North America.