Dubai: Kuwait Finance House (KFH), in which the Kuwait Investment Authority plans to sell its 24.1 per cent stake, said on Thursday its net profit fell 10.2 per cent in the third quarter to September.
KFH’s, the country’s biggest Islamic lender, net profit fell to 35.5 million Kuwaiti dinars in the third quarter compared to 39.2 million in the same quarter last year. Total assets jumped to 17.1 billion dinars in the third quarter as against 14.7 billion dinars in the same period last year.
Chairman Hamad Al-Marzouq said that the achieved results come amid major changes taking place in the bank, which will have a positive effect on the overall level of banking services provided at both the retail level as well as the corporate level. He added that the bank is seeking to maintain its market share locally and increase it in the near future with increased diversification of revenues through KFH-Group banks.
“We began to see normalisation in the bank’s capital gains in the second quarter, Additionally the quality of earnings remains a concern given relatively weak core revenues,” said Jaap Meijer, managing director at Arqaam Capital.
The company’s financing income, which contributed to 76 per cent of its revenues, jumped the most by 35 per cent to 185 million dinars.
However, investment income fell by 66 per cent to 24 million dinars.
KFH is working on optimising its structure, rationalising expenditures, and implementing efficient use of resources, it said.
The company said its total deposits reached 10.9 billion Kuwaiti dinars, up 7.5 per cent compared to December 2013.
