Al Baraka Banking Group reports US$72 million total net income in Q1 of 2022

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Al Baraka Banking Group BSC (ABG) announced a net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company of US$ 46 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to US$ 26 million for the same period in 2021, marking an increase of 78%. The basic and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2022 was US$ 3.76 Cents compared to US$ 2.11 Cents for the same period of 2021.

The Group’s total net income increased by 75% to US$ 72 million, compared to US$ 41 million in the first quarter of 2021.The net operating income increased by 106% to US$ 193 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to US$ 93 million in the same period last year. The increase in net operating income was largely broad-based with contributions from investment, financing and FX income.

The equity attributable to the parent's shareholders and Sukuk holders amounted to US$ 1.36 billion by end of March 2022, compared to US$ 1.39 billion by the end of December 2021. This reflected a decline of 1.9% due to the impact of foreign currency translation. Meanwhile, the total equity increased by 1.3% to reach US$2.08 billion by end of March 2022, compared to US$ 2.06 billion by end of December 2021 due to an increase in non-controlling interest.

Total assets of the Group showed a reduction of 4.5% by the end of March 2022 to reach US$ 27 billion, compared to US$ 28 billion by the end of December 2021 also due to the impact of foreign currency translation.

Commenting on the Group’s performance and results during the first quarter of 2022, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ABG, Shaikh Abdullah Saleh Kamel said: “Despite the prevailing uncertainty in some of the markets, we were able to achieve solid results during the first quarter of this year. The increase in return on equity and return on assets reflects an effective strategy that has yielded positive results to our shareholders and customers.

In line with our strategy, and to better align with the nature of our business, we have now secured Central Bank of Bahrain’s approval to convert our license from an Islamic Wholesale banking license to a Category 1 Investment Firm license ". Member of the Board of Directors and Group Chief Executive Officer of Al Baraka Banking Group, Mr. Mazin Manna said: "Our positive results reflect a successful approach to our investments as well as our focus on effective risk management and growth strategies. Despite significant inflationary pressures in the markets we operate in, our expenses have remained flat, demonstrating the focus on expense control.

This led to significantly improving our operational efficiency from 59% to 41% in the first quarter of 2022”. Mr. Manna added: “While the results for the first quarter have shown positive momentum, the operating environment continues to be challenging due to the geo-political situation in parts of the world, inflationary pressures, currency devaluation in a number of markets we operate in and an environment of rising interest rates. This will require us to continue to be vigilant during this period and to remain focused on our core businesses and strategies”.