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Sico net profit grows five-fold in 2012

Manama, February 8, 2013

Bahrain-based regional investment bank Securities and Investment Company (Sico) put up a soild performance in 2012 registering a five-fold increase in its net profit for the year which hit BD2.74 million ($7.2 million) compared to BD488,000 the previous year in spite of challenging circumstances in markets.

Sico saw its operating income for the final quarter of 2012 increase to BD2.22 million compared to BD1.82 million for the corresponding 2011 period, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Total expenses for the period rose slightly to BD1.05 million from BD967,000.

The bank said its net profit for the fourth quarter soared to BD1.14 million compared to BD852,000 for the previous year.

Sico's financial performance in 2012 showed a significant improvement over the previous year. Its operating income too increased to BD7.35 million from BD4.63 million last time.

The basic earnings per share rose to 6.41 fils from 1.14 fils. By the year-end the balance-sheet footings had grown by more than 11pc to BD78.36 million from BD70.64 million.

A strong performance by Sico's asset management business resulted in total assets under management increasing to BD228.2 million from BD206 million.

Securities under custody with the bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, Sico Funds Services Company, remained strong at BD824 million against BD864 million last time.

"Set against a very challenging economic and market background in 2012, this is a creditable performance," said chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

"These financial results reflect the success of Sico's long-held prudent risk philosophy, which seeks to capture new business opportunities while limiting undue risk. Growing and diversifying our business lines and revenue streams, extending our regional footprint, and enhancing client service remain key pillars of our consistent strategy," he remarked.

"At the same time, we further strengthened the bank's corporate governance and risk management framework and also enhanced our operating infrastructure with successful initiatives in the areas of human resources and information technology, providing a solid basis for future growth," he stated.

The bank continued to maintain a strong capital base, ending the year with BD57.29 million in shareholders' equity and a very strong consolidated capital adequacy ratio of 77.28 per cent, substantially higher than the Central Bank of Bahrain requirement.

"Our successful overall performance in 2012 underscores the continued effectiveness of SICO's consistent strategy and sensible management principles based on product and asset diversification," said chief executive Anthony Mallis.

"It also highlights the dedicated commitment of the bank's team to deliver high quality and innovative services with integrity and professionalism, while retaining the confidence, trust and loyalty of our clients," he noted.

"We will continue to focus on serving our clients' needs while managing shareholders' capital prudently - a commitment which is central to our long-term value proposition.Despite the challenges that lie ahead, we remain optimistic about the medium- and long-term outlook for Sico," he said.

"We have identified promising business opportunities in all our core business lines, and we are strongly positioned to capture such opportunities as the markets recover," he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Bank | Sico |

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