|
News trends in Arabia
for the month of
February:
Aerospace |
Automobiles |
Banking |
Real Estate |
Telecommunications |
Travel and Leisure
The month of February
turned out to be a
decisive month for many
Arabian banks which came
out with their financial
results. Whether they
reaped benefits or
suffered setbacks due to
their investments,
financial decisions,
policy decisions, focus
area of clientele and
many such factors were
reflected in their
financial reports.
Ithmaar Bank enjoyed a
five-fold leap in its
net profits, while
Khaleeji Commercial
Bank’s net profit
increased by 94.5%
followed by Arab Banking
Corporation (57%
increase), Jordan Kuwait
Bank (53.4% increase),
Ahli Bank of Qatar (45%
increase), Bahrain Saudi
Bank (37.6% increase)
Banque Saudi Fransi
(35.7% increase)
A moderate 20% to 30%
rise in net profits were
reported by Gulf
International Bank,
United Gulf Bank,
BankMuscat
International, TAIB Bank
EC and Unicorn
Investment Bank, Al
Khaleej Development
Company and few other
banks and companies.
Meanwhile, UAE-based
Union National Bank’s
net profit declined by
12.6% to Dh1b.
Launch of new banking
companies marked this
month. Aman Bahrain
Insurance Company was
incorporated with a
paid-up capital of
USD20m, Islamic
Development Bank plans
to launch the USD300m
International Islamic
Trade Finance Corp.
while Al Salam Bank
established paid-up
capital of BD120m for
new real-estate company
which will promote a
number of property
development projects in
Bahrain and Bank of
Jordan PLC will set up a
bank in Syria under the
name Bank of
Jordan-Syria with a
capital of USD30m.
Sharia-compliant Islamic
Money services were the
foremost in the banking
industry in February
with many banks and
financial institutions
launching such
facilities. The
forerunner being
National Bank of Kuwait
–with its launch of the
first of-its-kind
Shariah compliant
Islamic money.
Major negotiations took
place between the banks
and other companies.
Kuwait Finance House
agreed with Malaysia's
Utama Banking Group for
a deal which will
initiate a USD3.4b plan
to create the world's
top Islamic bank. Arab
Banking Group is
negotiating with UAE's
Emaar Properties to buy
a 10% stake.
Another highlight of the
month involved Aldar
Properties which sold
the world's
third-largest Islamic
bond after raising its
value by almost 70% to
USD2.2b to meet demand.
Few banks increased
their capital - Saudi
Hollandi Bank , National
Commercial Bank, Qatar
Development Bank
To sum up, the banking
industry had a positive
outlook with encouraging
financial results, new
Sharia compliant
facilities, new banks,
increase in paid-up
capital and a
sustainable industry
growth.
Important
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