Finance & Capital Market

GFH's Q1 profit grows three-fold, net income hits $90.3m

GFH Group, a leading regional financial group with major interests in asset management and real estate, has reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of $16.12 million for the first quarter compared with $5.08 million last year, up 217.2%. 
 
Announcing the results for the three months ended March 31, GFH said its consolidated net profit rose to $19.34 million from $6.78 million, thus registering an increase of 185.2%  over the first quarter of 2020.
 
Total equity attributable to shareholders was $0.92 billion as of March 31 from $0.91 billion at year-end 2020, up 0.4%. The marginal increase in shareholders’ equity was primarily due to profit for the period and fair value movement in the treasury portfolio. 
 
The increase reflects the strengthening of all its business lines and improved contributions from the group’s commercial banking and treasury activities, in particular. 
 
According to GFH, its total assets surged by 7% to $7.04 billion compared to $6.59 billion last year. 
Earnings per share for first quarter was US cents 0.53 compared to US cents 0.15 for the first quarter of 2020.
 
Total income for the first quarter was $90.39 million compared to $69.46 million for the same period in 2020, a strong 30.1% rise. Supporting growth was income generated from the placement of deals, sale of assets and increased treasury activities. 
 
Total expenses for the first three months of the year were $71.05 million, up 13.4% from $62.68 million during the comparable 2020-period. 
 
On the performance, Chairman Jassim Alseddiqi said: "We’re very pleased with the group’s first quarter results especially in light of the continuing effects of the pandemic still being felt around the world. Despite this, the first three months of 2021 saw GFH make great strides across the business and deliver good growth in profits and income year-over-year."
 
"Over the quarter, we continued to grow our retail and investment banking, asset management and treasury businesses as well as our portfolio and presence in key markets including the GCC, UK, Europe and the US," stated Alseddiqi.
 
"Building on our momentum, we will focus and expect to further accelerate growth, enhance value and strengthen the bottom line in the periods ahead," he added.
 
CEO Hisham Alrayes said: "We entered 2021 with a very promising pipeline of opportunities and successfully converted these into transactions that were welcomed by our investors across the region."
 
"In the first quarter, profitability was driven by the placement of unique and diverse deals including the Group’s $135 million acquisition of a mission-critical distribution facility in Chicago, leased to Michelin North America, as well as the sale of GFH’s US-based portfolio of pre-IPO, high-growth companies that specialise in next generation technologies," observed Alrayes. 
 
"Results were also supported by the sale of equity investments and treasury income realized from Sukuks, notes and fixed income," he added.-TradeArabia News Service