Bahrain-based wholesale bank Securities & Investment Company (Sico) has reported its net profit for the first half of the year was BD3.5 million ($9.2 million).

When compared with net profit of BD5.1 million for the first six months of last year, it is down by 31 per cent mainly due to lower performance and turnover by all GCC markets, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The bank said operating income totalled BD6.8 million versus BD8.2 million or 17 per cent lower for the same period last year.

Basic earnings per share were 8.3 fils against 11.8 fils for the first six months last year.

For the second quarter, net profit was BD2.1 million compared with BD2.5 million for the same period last year, representing a 15 per cent decline; with operating income reducing by five per cent to BD3.8 million against BD4 million the previous year.

Basic earnings per share were 4.9 fils compared with 5.8 fils earlier.

The contribution to operating income by net investment income and interest income during second quarter increased to BD1.8 million (BD1.3 million in second quarter last year) and BD405,000 (BD327,000 in second quarter last year), respectively.

Net fee and commission income, contributed BD1 million (BD1.6 million in second quarter last year) and brokerage and other income was BD512,000 (BD829,000 in second quarter last year).

Total operating expenses for the period rose slightly to BD1.7 million from BD1.5 million in the second quarter.

Year to date, interest income contributed BD784,000 as against BD657,000 earlier; while brokerage and other income amounted to BD1 million (BD1.6 million in first half last year), net investment income was  BD3.2 million (BD3.7 million in first half last year), and net fee and commission income totalled BD1.8 million (BD2.3 million in first half last year).

For the first six months, total operating expenses amounted to BD3.3 million (BD3.2 million in first half last year).

As on June 30, total balance sheet footings had increased to BD123.8 million from BD115.6 million at the end of December 2014; while shareholders’ equity remained roughly on par at BD60.6 million.

Investments at fair value through profit or loss increased to BD20.5 million from BD17.3 million at year-end 2014, with available-for-sale investments reduced slightly to BD28.6 million from BD28.8 million.

Assets under management grew to BD374.4 million from BD338.8 million at the end of the previous year; while assets under custody with the bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary – Sico Funds Services Company (SFS) – increased to BD1.75 billion from BD 1.64 billion at year-end 2014.

Sico chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa called it “a highly commendable performance for the first half of 2015, especially given the more favourable economic and market background during the corresponding period in 2014”.

He said it was encouraging to note that the bank’s results for the second quarter showed a marked improvement over the results for the first three months, almost on par with second quarter of 2014, which boded well for the remainder of the year.

“During this period, all GCC markets performed lower than the corresponding period in 2014, when the S&P Composite Index gained 10.8 per cent compared with 6.4 per cent for the first six months,” Sico chief executive Najla Al Shirawi said.

“The average daily market turnover in US dollars also declined across all markets, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi being the most affected at minus 61 per cent and 72 per cent respectively.

“In terms of oil prices, Brent crude averaged $59.3 per barrel during the first half compared with $108.8 per barrel for the respective period last year,” she added.

According to her, the second quarter witnessed an improvement in market performance and oil prices.

“Our outlook for Sico for the rest of year remains positive, based on the expectation for further growth in our fee-based income, and an ongoing positive contribution to the bottom line by our conservatively-managed proprietary book; while we continue to manage our costs effectively,” added Al Shirawi. - TradeArabia News Service