Bahraini retail and commercial banking institution BMI Bank reported a net profit of BD550,000 ($1.5 million) post provisions for the fourth quarter of last year compared with a loss of BD7.8 million during the same period in 2010.

This followed a third-quarter profit of BD1.2 million.

But the bank still posted a net loss of BD3.38 million post provisions for the year 2011 compared with a net loss of BD6.5 million during the corresponding period in 2010.

"The year 2011 was one of transformation for BMI Bank, with an emphasis on transparency, product innovation, stronger levels of customer service and openness," said BMI chief executive Jamal Al Hazeem.

"All key elements in realising our objective of significantly increasing our market share within Bahrain whilst continuing to compete effectively were achieved.

"We have begun to witness the rewards of continuing our investment in our people, brand, system, product and services as reflected in both our net profit for the second half of 2011 as well as our position as a key player amongst local retail and commercial banks within the country," he said.

"Our transformation began in earnest at the start of 2011 with the roll out of several customer-centric products and services including the revamp of our flagship retail product Ayadi which witnessed tremendous growth in the portfolio," he added. "This was followed by a campaign announcing our refreshed brand identity under a new tag line, "better, together" to strengthen our position as an entirely customer and customer-service driven bank.

"We also opened three new branches, including one on the 16th floor of the Bahrain World Trade Centre to cater to our high net-worth clients growing our branch network to 10 and our ATM network to 30 during the year.

"Further to the launch of our state-of-the-art core banking system in 2010, we launched two new payment channels for our credit card customers as well as several reward-based promotions on our bouquet of retail products," he said

"During the year, we continued our support towards a set number of local and community-led charities that we partner on a long-term basis," he added.

"We have been very prudent and conservative in our lending practices as well as in our approach to provisioning during 2011, which we believe positions us well for the year ahead. At BMI Bank, we maintain an excellent capital adequacy ratio of over 19 per cent with strong liquidity and a portfolio of unique and innovative products and services.

"We move into 2012 with a renewed commitment to deliver innovative products and services through our retail and commercial banking franchise and will continue to invest in them to better serve our customers," he said.

"We have a stable and growing business to leverage on with strong shareholder and customer support," he added. – TradeArabia News Service