Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), reported an increase of 21 per cent in its net profit in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period of 2013.

It also increased its equity by 11 per cent, total assets by 26 per cent, deposits by 23 per cent and financing and investments by 23 per cent at the end of September this year compared with 2013, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), a sister publication.

Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, because of its possession of extensive resources and a wide branch network, was able in the first nine months of 2014 to capitalise upon the circumstances arising from the world crisis to expand its investment and financing portfolio and at the same time strengthen its liquid assets to enable it deal with all possibilities.

The financial results of the bank showed an increase in total operating income by 27 per cent to 1.3 billion Turkish lira ($582.4 million) for the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.

After deducting operating expenses, net operating income increased by 12 per cent to 715 million lira, while net income reached 183m lira ($84 million) for first nine months of 2014, an increase of 21 per cent compared to same period in 2013.

At the end of third quarter, the assets of the bank increased by 26 per cent to 21.7 billion lira ($9.5 billion) compared with 17.2 billion lira in December 2013.

This increase was invested to finance the growth in financing and investments which increased by 23 per cent to 16 billion lira ($7 billion) at the end of September 2014 compared to 2013.

This growth, in turn, was financed by increasing the bank's range of investment products and branch network which led to an increase of 23 per cent in customer deposits and equity of investment account-holders to reach 15.4 billion lira ($6.8 billion) at the end of September this year, which funded 71 per cent of the total assets of the bank, reflecting the bank's strong customer deposit base.

The bank also strengthened its shareholders equity by 11 per cent to 1.7 billion lira as at the end of September 2014 compared to 2013.

"Given the difficult political and economic conditions that prevailed in the banks environment in the previous period, we are very pleased with the excellent results that the bank achieved in first nine months of 2014," Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank chairman and Al Baraka Banking Group president and chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif said.

Yousif said the bank opened 20 new branches over the past nine months, which brought the branch network up to a total of 187 branches.

For 2014, Al Baraka Turkey intends to maintain the momentum of the present rate of branch expansion, opening 30 new branches in accordance with its current plan to establish a network of 330 branches by 2018. Its ATM network is set to expand by a similar order of magnitude.

Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank general manager Fahrettin Yahsi said the bank's product range was again enhanced, with the introduction of finance packages tailored to the needs of small businesses (micro-finance), e-participation accounts, cumulative participation accounts and dentists' financing facilities.

"Through its participations programme, the bank contributed to building 14,000 housing units in three years."

Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank concluded recently the issuance of Islamic sukuk worth $350 million in the form of Sukuk Al Wakala-Murabaha. Given the large orders received by the issue, the value of total subscriptions reached $750 million, more than double the required amount. Many banks, financial institutions and investment funds from different main world financial centres took part in the issue with 61 per cent from Middle East, 31 per cent from Europe and eight per cent from Asia.

"We are delighted at the large success of the Islamic sukuk of the bank, given the prevailed fluctuated financial markets and world economic conditions," Yahsi said. - TradeArabia News Service