Capinnova Investment Bank, the Shari’a compliant investment banking arm of BBK, reported a net profit of $743,000 for the first quarter of this year, compared to $1.2 million for the same period in 2011.

The gross revenues for the first quarter were $2.1 million in comparison to $2.3 million for the same period in 2011.

Abdul Kareem Bucheery, chairman at Capinnova Investment Bank, said: “We have reported a profitable first quarter despite the difficult market conditions experienced by the banking sector in general and the investment banks in particular.  We are committed to pursue our strategies and objectives to mitigate the negative impacts of the current difficult market conditions with a view to providing good investment and financing services to our clients.

“We will continue our relentless efforts to take advantage of investment opportunities available in the market and to strengthen our strategies and policies to achieve a good balance between returns and risks,” added Bucheery.

Jamal Hijres, chief executive officer at Capinnova Investment Bank, said: “At Capinnova, we have been diligent to focus on our key objectives which gave a reasonable return in spite of the difficult conditions in the market. In the current year, it is important for us to appropriately position Capinnova within the Islamic banking sector.”

“Having shown profits during the first quarter of the year is relatively a good start for the bank. We will double our efforts to pursue new horizons for our business activities to achieve growth in this fiscal year,” added Hijres. – TradeArabia News Service