Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral bank owned by Arab states, has reported a 42 per cent year-on-year increase in its net income for nine months which hit $64.3 million.

Apicorp is owned by the ten member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). The UAE government owns a 17 per cent stake in the bank.

Announcing the results at Apicorp’s quarterly board meeting in Cairo, Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi, chief executive and general manager said the bank's net income for the first six months surged 95 per cent to $47 million compared to the same period last.

Reinforcing its fiscal stability and solid business performance in a challenging economic environment, Apicorp said for the 12 months ending 2009 the bank had reported a net income of $59 million, a 111 per cent rise over same period in 2008.

As a multilateral development bank, Apicorp enjoys a de facto preferred creditor status, said Hamad Al-Nuaimi after the quarterly board meeting of the bank held recently.

The meeting was attended by representatives of OAPEC member states - the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya and Egypt.

According to Al-Nuaimi, Apicorp's total assets rose 7.5 per cent year-on year to touch $4.15 billion by the end of September. Total shareholders’ equity soared over 13 per cent compared to last year to reach $1.1 billion.

'These strong results yet again show Apicorp’s outstanding resilience to difficult financing conditions prevalent both in the oil and gas industry and the larger economy. We have followed a prudent yet proactive approach to financing and investing, which has ensured steady growth throughout the past few years,' Al-Nuaimi remarked.

Capitalizing on our experience and expertise in oil and gas investments we sought to come up with innovative financing solutions; a need of the hour, he stated.

Despite the tight credit environment, Apicorp was involved in financing oil and gas transactions with project values of $9 billion over the past couple of months with the bank’s commitments aggregating $213 million.

'Our robust capital position and low leverage have enabled us to sustain the dynamism of our business strategy even when the overall economy has slowed down,' he added.

The results announcement comes close on the heels of Apicorp’s debut SR2 billion bond issue, which was oversubscribed three times following massive demand from institutional investors.

 The Saudi rial bond was the first such foray in the Kingdom by a multilateral development bank.

 “The overwhelming response to our debut bond demonstrated the confidence of the investor community in our underlying financial strengths, a confidence that was endorsed by Moody’s A1 rating for the bond. Apicorp’s latest financial results strongly validate this confidence,' Al Nuaimi said.

On the energy sector outlook, the Apicorp chief said, 'We see Mena energy capital investments recovering quickly from the post-crisis contraction with investment potential rising to $615 billion in the 2011-2015 period.'

'As financing markets return to activity, the Mena region is set to witness a shift in oil and gas demand patterns with China and Far Eastern economies driving the bulk of growth.'

'Apicorp is well positioned to leverage this turnaround to both expand and diversify its financing and equity portfolios,' Al Nuaimi added.-TradeArabia News Service