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BBK sees growth despite global turmoil

Manama, March 12, 2012

Bahrain-based BBK said the bank had sustained its growth in operating income and attracting customers deposits despite the geo-political developments in the Mena region and the euro zone debt crisis.

Speaking at the annual meeting yesterday, BBK chief executive Abdulkarim Bucheery painted a positive picture of the financial state of play in Bahrain for 2012.

"This year is expected to be another challenging one, however, there are positive signs looming on the horizon which should enhance consumer and business confidence and open viable investment opportunities for BBK," he remarked.

"Last year proved to be another truly challenging and unprecedented year for the entire banking industry, said Bucheery.

"BBK maintained its focus on prudent lending norm while meeting its commitments to its customers and maintaining support for viable initiatives. We are working on many fronts to position BBK to take full advantage of new business opportunities locally and regionally."

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Bucheery said he was optimistic for the year ahead. "The first two months of the year have been positive and there is some stability coming to the market which is experiencing momentum," he remarked.

Bucheery, who is also chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks, said it was not only BBK who had seen an upturn in the first two months as he was aware of other institutions who were also experiencing a good start to the year.

Last year, the bank made a net profit of BD31.8 million, compared to BD39.1 million in 2010," said chairman Murad Ali Murad.

"It was a year which saw continued turbulence in world markets, stemming in large part from the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone and the fear that the US would fall back into recession," he stated.

"In addition to lacklustre global economic growth, there have also been a number of uprisings in countries across the Mena region," Murad said in his annual review.

"Bahrain has had periods of civil unrest and this has inevitably had a negative impact on business sentiment locally. Despite these events, none of which were foreseen a year ago, outstanding efforts of the BBK management team and all employees have ensured that BBK's businesses continued to perform well."

"The challenging economic conditions have not required us to revisit our overall strategy, but rather to adjust some business initiatives which enabled us to remain on course to deliver on key targets," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
 




Tags: | Bahrain | BBK | debt | customers | Euro zone | deposit |

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