United Gulf Bank posts $13.9m net profit

Manama, November 1, 2011

United Gulf Bank (UGB) has announced a net profit attributable to shareholders of $13.9 million for the third quarter of the year against $41.4 million for the same period last year.

UGB's total income for the three months to September 30 was $25.3 million compared to $33.2 million in the same period for 2010.

UGB is the asset management and investment banking platform of the Kipco Group.

Net profit attributable to shareholders of parent for the same period decreased by 93 per cent to $700,000 compared to $9.6 million for the third quarter of 2010.

UGB said its profitability in the third quarter was impacted by the volatile economic environment, depressed market performance and increased funding costs resulting from a strategic shift in its liquidity profile in 2010 from short-term funding to long-term funding.

On a nine-month basis, UGB recorded a total income of $88.8 million compared to $105.7 million last time.

UGB's total assets for the third quarter of the year stood at $1.77 billion - a decrease from the $1.92 billion at the year-end.

UGB's assets under management were $7.1 billion compared to $7.5 billion at the end of June.

'Our third-quarter results reflect the negative impact of economic uncertainty and the poor returns from global and regional markets during the last nine months,' said chairman Masaud Hayat.

'However, this negative impact was offset by improved performances from our operating companies which demonstrate the strength of UGB's asset quality and conservative asset valuations.

'We foresee that markets will continue to pose challenges and even though our profitability is significantly lower this quarter, we will continue UGB's strategy of maintaining a strong level of liquidity and a solid equity base,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service

Tags: Asset Management | Kuwait | Kipco | United Gulf Bank |