Al Baraka Banking Group achieved a net income of $166 million in the first nine months of this year, up 13 per cent over the same period last year.

Total operating income rose 15 per cent to $535 million.

After deducting all operating expenses, net operating income amounted to $252 million in first nine months of this year, which represents an increase of 11 per cent.

The net income attributable to equity holders of the parent amounted to $97 million compared with $83 million for the same period last year, representing an increase of 17 per cent.

This increase was achieved despite the increases in the operating expenses of the group on account of further expansion in the branch network and enhancements in IT infrastructure and human resources.

The total assets amounted to $16.4 billion at the end of third quarter, an increase of 3 per cent from the year end. Total equity at the end of September amounted to $1.8 billion.

Net income in the third quarter amounted to $56 million compared with $53 million for the same period last year.

'We are very proud to see continuing growth in the revenue and business of Al Baraka Banking Group and further elevation in its regional and global standing,' said chairman Shaikh Saleh Kamel.

'This is considered exceptional by all standards, given the continuation of difficult economic and financial conditions and extremely complicated Arab political developments.

'We consider the outstanding results achieved in first nine months of 2011 an embodiment of the success of the business model that we followed since the founding of the group, a model that reflects the true values of Islamic banking and far-sighted business strategies, supported by outstanding management expertise capable of creatively translating these values and strategies to facts on the ground,' Shaikh Saleh said.

'We are optimistic about the future, and we make every effort to serve the communities in which we operate and provide products with high added value that contribute to their development and evolution,' he added.

'The excellent results that we achieved were the outcome of a number of initiatives that we had launched during the year, including continuously improving the quality of our products and services, introducing more innovative products and expanding the branch network of BG subsidiary units,' said president and chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif.

'The subsidiary units of the group in Turkey, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain have resumed expansion by opening new branches and this has had direct positive impact on growing their deposit base and financing portfolios.

'We expect the number of branches of ABG banking units to exceed 500 over the next three years,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service