CBI reports Dh66m net, up 108%

Commercial Bank International (CBI) reported a net profit of Dh66.1 million, up 108 per cent, for the three month period ended March 31 compared to Dh31.8 million reported during the corresponding period in 2011. Total assets grew by Dh451 million to Dh11.9 billion compared with December 31, 2011. Total customer deposits during the first quarter increased by 6.4 per cent to Dh9 billion, while net loans and advances to customers increased by 3.25 per cent to Dh8.1 billion.

RAK Petroleum

RAK Petroleum reported a first-quarter net income of Dh81.3 million, according to a company statement received by email. The company reported a first-quarter profit of Dh5.9 million last year.

Dubai Islamic Bank

Dubai Islamic Bank may price five-year Islamic bonds at about 375 basis points over the benchmark midswap rate, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Aabar Investments

Aabar Investments boosted its stake in Arabtec Holding Co. to 21.57 per cent, Dubai bourse data show. Aabar Energy Co. boosted its holding to 5.84 per cent from 5.2 per cent, the data show.

Emaar

Emaar Properties, the developer of the world's tallest tower, will begin selling 224 apartments at a premium residential community overlooking the Emirates Golf Course. Called ‘Panorama at The Views,' the mid-rise development will go on sale on May 26, the company said in an e- mailed statement.

Saudi Aramco

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. will start commercial operation of its Jazan refinery ahead of the original planned date of 2017, an official at the state-owned producer known as Saudi Aramco said.

Aramco has invited bids for construction of the plant in Jazan, in southern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, and has issued bidding packages for the contractors.

Aramco, the world's largest crude exporter, is expanding refining and petrochemical production to meet domestic demand and export refined products that can fetch higher prices than oil.

Aker Solutions

Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solutions has agreed to buy a Dubai-based oil services firm, hoping to improve its recent weak track record of winning contracts in the world's top oil producing region. Aker Solutions has agreed to buy NPS Energy, part of oilfield services company National Petroleum Services, for an equity value of $350 million (Dh1.29 billion) plus around $110 million (Dh404 million) in net interest bearing debt, it said in a statement yesterday.

NBAD

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has added a new feature to its Arrow service, the mobile-based payment service, allowing customers to instantly transfer funds to any bank in India at a lower price through Federal Bank, one of the leading private sector banks in India.

The Federal Bank is the fourth largest private sector bank in India with branches across all states and additional remittance outlets via the Indian Bank Network (NEFT).

Behbehani

Mohammad Saleh Yousef Behbehani received Central Bank approval to raise his stake in Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait to 7 per cent from 5.52 per cent, according to a filing to the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Kuwait's Burgan Bank

Burgan Bank, the Kuwait-based lender which last month acquired Eurobank Tekfen, plans to build its foreign assets, Chairman Majid Essa Al Ajeel said.

"We're confident that our outlook for 2012 is positive" and an improvement "is already reflecting in the first quarter," Al Ajeel said in an interview at the bank's headquarters in Kuwait City.

"Burgan Bank Group is in a strong financial position, our balance sheet is strong, with high liquidity levels and we are growing faster than the economy." Burgan Bank, a unit of Kuwait Projects Co., posted a 48 per cent rise in first-quarter profit to 17.5 million dinars (Dh230 million), beating analyst estimates.

— Compiled from agencies and staff reports