BLME, the largest Islamic bank in Europe whose main shareholders are Kuwait's Boubyan Bank and the Kuwaiti Public Institution for Social Security, said its net operating profit before impairment charges in 2012 hit GBP7.3 million ($10.9 million), up 67 per cent over GBP4.4 million the previous year.

An independent wholesale Sharia’a compliant bank based in London, BLME said its operating profit before tax touched GBP5.51 million. The group's balance sheet too showed a 29 per cent growth whch soared to more than GBP1 billion.

BLME said it had maintained capital adequacy ratio in excess of current and also the impending Basel standards. The top Islamic bank also witnessed a two-fold surge in its fee income.

Announcing the resullts for the year ended December 31, CEO Humphrey Percy said, "2012 was an important year for the bank. The return to profitability in 2012 is testament to the increasing diversity and quality of earnings with good contributions from the newly established asset-based lending, acquisition finance and commodity trade finance units."

These new units join BLME’s core corporate banking businesses, leasing and property finance, which both also delivered strong increases in earnings. BLME now provides a full suite of products and has established itself as a leading UK mid-market banking services provider.

"Our ability to create competitive and innovative products is clearly demonstrated by our funds. The US$ Income Fund was ranked as the 6th best performing fund in 2012 out of a peer group of 758 funds by Lipper Hindsight, the Reuters fund ranking service," remarked Percy.

The global sukuk fund, he said, was rated as the top performing Sukuk Fund in 2012 by Zawya, the industry benchmarking specialist.

The imminent opening of the Dubai representative office as well as further new product launches, will allow the bank to expand its reach and distribution, explained Percy.

"Based on the strong business and operating platform developed over the last five years, BLME is now well placed to undertake the next phase of its development and to increase profitability," he added.

Led by a management team that brings together a combination of experienced international bankers and leading experts in Islamic finance, BLME has three key business areas; corporate banking, treasury and wealth management, which includes asset management and private banking.

The group offers innovative Islamic investment and financing products to businesses and high net-worth individuals in the European, US, Asian and Mena regions.-TradeArabia News Service