Dubai : Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) has lenders in Malaysia and Indonesia in its sights as it seeks to continue global expansion, president and chief executive Adnan Yousuf told Gulf News.
"ABG's growth will continue. All indications are that we will increase our net profit by about five per cent for the full year of 2010," he said in a phone interview.
A continuing expansion plan drove assets and net income up by three per cent each for the Islamic lender in the first half of the year.
Net income
Net income amounted to $95 million (Dh349 million) compared to $92 million for the same period last year. The net attributable to shareholders increased by 10 per cent to reach $54 million compared with $49 million for same period last year.
Finance and investments increased by two per cent to $9.6 billion and deposits and unrestricted investment accounts by four per cent from $11 billion at the end of December 2009 to $11.4 billion at the end of June.
Operating income
Operating income grew by two per cent to $307 million in the first six months of this year comparing to $302 million in the same period of 2009. Total equity was $1.7 billion at the end of June.
Chairman Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel attributed the growth to "the soundness of business strategies" and policies that "strike a balance between prudence and the precautionary approach necessitated by the current regional and global economic and financial conditions on one hand, and the need to continue expanding in the markets and provide innovative Islamic services and products to its customers on the other."
Growth
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive of ABG, attributed the lender's growth to the expansion in the Arab region, including Syria and Libya, as well as the opening of new branches in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon and Bahrain.
"Moreover, the first half of the year also saw the completion of the launch of ABG's new identity in addition to merging the branches of Al Baraka Islamic Bank in Pakistan with Emirates Global Islamic Bank - Pakistan under the name of Al Baraka Bank of Pakistan," Yousuf said.
The group will continue to strengthen its presence and operations in "promising" Islamic markets, he said.
