Kuwait’s Burgan Bank Group has reported net income of KD37.4 million ($122.6 million)for the first half (H1) of the year reflecting a 12.3 per cent growth from the same period in 2014.

Operating income climbed to reach KD144.1 million from in KD130.5 million in 2014 while operating profits before provisions reached KD 80.2 million from KD 72.8 million in 2014 reflecting a growth of 10.2 per cent.

On annualized basis, loans and advances grew by 5.7 per cent to KD4.5 billion while customer deposits grew by 7.4 per cent to KD4.9 billion. Asset quality remains stable and on comfortable levels, the non-performing assets (net of collaterals) to gross facilities ratio stands at 1.7 per cent and coverage (net of collateral) stands at 259 per cent.

Majed Essa Al Ajeel, chairman of Burgan Bank Group said: "Once again, we have managed to grow smartly amid pressures of global markets and the geopolitical scene and amid unchanging conditions. Our focus on operational performance and prudent approach at optimizing the group’s operations has proven the success of our model.”

“Our performance do not only highlight our consistent growth over the last five years in harsh conditions for the Banking industry locally, regional and globally, but also highlights the solidity of our growth structure. We have managed to build an adaptable risk-savvy model, resilient to slowdowns, shakeups, and threats.” added Al Ajeel.

"Our diversification strategy continues to pay off  through a balanced approach to diversifying our revenue streams and to steadily grow our international operations which now contribute to 55.5 per cent of the group’s revenue making Burgan Bank the most diversified in Kuwait. We have confidence in our strategy and we are definitely heading in the right path,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service