Ithmaar Holding, a Bahrain-based financial institution, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, both reported profits as they each announced their financial results for 2018.

 

The announcement by the Ithmaar Holding chairman Prince Amr Al Faisal, who is also the Ithmaar Bank chairman, follows the review and approval of both boards of directors of the consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018. 

 

Ithmaar Holding reported a net profit of $10.06 million for the year compared to a net loss of $72.40 million for 2017. This included a net loss attributable to equity holders for the year ended December 31, 2018 of $23.98 million, as compared to the $84.71 million net loss reported for the same period in 2017, a bank statement said. 

 

EPS for the year has improved to negative US Cents 0.82 compared from negative US Cents 2.91 for the same period in 2017. 

 

The results included a net loss of $1.28 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2018, as compared to a net loss of $56.2 million for 2017. 

 

Ithmaar Bank reported a net profit of BD14.14 million ($37.51 million) for the year, an increase of 126.7 percent compared to the net profit of BD6.24 million reported in 2017. Net profit attributable to equity holders for the year was BD1.41 million, a decrease of 10.9 percent compared to BD1.58 million reported in 2017, he said. 

 

The bank posted a net profit of BD9.38 million of the three-month period ended December 31, 2018, compared to a net loss of BD0.44 million reported during the same period in 2017.

 

Also in December 2018, Ithmaar Holding’s other wholly-owned subsidiary, IB Capital, acquired an additional stake in Solidarity Group Holding, one of the largest Takaful Group companies in Bahrain. As a result, Solidarity Group Holding became a subsidiary of IB Capital. During December 2018, Dilmunia Development Fund, a fund which is managed by Ithmaar’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Ithmaar Bank, became subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank after the bank’s shareholding in the company increased to more than 50 percent. 

 

“On behalf of the Ithmaar Holding Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that, despite increasingly challenging market conditions, the group is continuing its planned transformation in 2018 and concluded the year with remarkable achievements,” said Prince Amr. “These included improved financial performance, as well as the realisation of key growth initiatives,” he said.

 

“The 2018 results show that net income before provision for impairment and overseas taxation for the year ended 31 December 2018 increased to $43.42 million, a 96.8 percent increase from the $22.10 million reported for the same period last year,” said Prince Amr. "This was mainly due to higher share of profit after tax from associates resulting from reclassification from held-for-sale to associate during the period,” he said.

 

“As a result, our operating income for the year increased to $259.82 million, a 12.7 percent increase from the $230.56 million reported for 2017. Operating income for the three-month period ended  December 31, 2018 was $48.34 million, a 2.3 percent decrease from the $49.48 million reported for the same period in 2017,” he said.

 

Ithmaar’s balance sheet decreased marginally by 1.4% with total assets at $8.49 billion as at December 31, 2018, compared to $8.61 billion as at December 31, 2017.

 

Ithmaar Holding chief executive officer Ahmed Abdul Rahim, who is also the Ithmaar Bank CEO, said that performance of both institutions against the challenging market conditions of 2018 further reconfirm that sustained efforts to turn the group around are indeed paying off. - TradeArabia News Service