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IIB H1 net income surges to $11.3m

Manama, August 17, 2008

Bahrain-based International Investment Bank (IIB) said its net income increased to $11.3 million in the first half of the current year, compared with $9.6 million during the same period last year.

Total income, which increased by 24.7 per cent to $ 23.3 million in the period, is mainly derived from investment banking fees generated from the structuring, underwriting and placement of new investments.

Total assets as on June 30, were $237.6 million compared to $257.3 million at the end of last year, and $87.7 million on June 30 last year.

The increase in assets since June 30 last year was mainly due to the share issue that was completed in December which generated net proceeds of $138.9 million.

The annualised returns for the first half of the current were 10.4pc on average equity and 9.1 per cent on average assets, while the cost-to-income ratio was 51.7 per cent which compares very favourably with that of other regional investment banks.

Capital adequacy ratio under Basel II was 133.1 per cent as on June 30 this year versus the Central Bank of Bahrain's minimum requirement of 12 per cent, demonstrating IIB's ample capacity to increase its investment portfolio in the future from a regulatory capital standpoint.

Bank chairman Saeed Abdul Jalil Mohammed Al Fahim said Despite increasing competition from other regional financial institutions, IIB had maintained its uninterrupted growth in net income, with a 17.7 per cent increase during the first half of the current year versus the same period last year.

"The bank has accomplished several transactions in the first half, including the placement of the remaining portion of two investment offerings commenced in the fourth quarter last year, the successful offering of two new transactions to investors and the purchase of real estate for future development and sale."

"With strong pipeline of deals under various stages, the bank aims to offer to its investors several attractive investments in the real estate and private equity sectors located in diverse geographical areas including Europe, the GCC region and North Africa in the coming months."

Chief executive officer and board member Aabed Al Zeera said during the first half of the year, IIB had completed the placement of a real estate development project in Abu Dhabi and a private equity investment in Amrahbank, a commercial bank located in Azerbaijan.

"We intend to expand and convert its operations to comply with the Sharia," he added.

"New offerings include the structuring and placement of an equity stake representing 13.2 per cent of Artes, a leading vehicle distributor in Tunisia, being IIB's first investment both in Tunisia and in the car distribution sector.

"The subsequent IPO of Artes was the largest on the Tunis Stock Exchange in the last 10 years and was over-subscribed more than 10 times. The bank has also structured and partly placed during the second quarter an investment in a green field sugar plant to be constructed in Bahrain," he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: IIB | increase | Net Income |

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