Chairman of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Hamad Abdulmohsen Al-Marzouq said that KFH has, by the grace of Allah, realized a net profit of KD 123.1 million for the period ending September 2016 for KFH shareholders as compared to KD 105.7 million for the same period last year i.e. an increase of 16.5%.

Total operating revenues for the 9 months ending September 2016 reached KD 491.5 million i.e. a growth of 4.0% compared to the same period last year.

Net operating revenues reached KD 264.1 million, i.e. a growth of 14.7% over the same period last year.

Net finance revenues reached KD 325.7 million, i.e. a growth of 2.3% over the same period last year.

Earnings per share as of end Q3 2016 reached 23.86 fils compared to 20.49 fils over the same period last year i.e. an increase by 16.4%.

Earnings per share from the continuing operations (after excluding the impact of AIG)  as of end Q3 2016 reached 27.42 fils compared to 19.40 fils over the same period last year i.e. an increase by 41.3%.

Total assets reached KD 16.64 billion i.e. an increase by KD 147.6 million or 1.0% compared to year ended 2015.

Finance portfolio reached KD 8.42 billion i.e. an increase by KD 331 million or 4.1% compared to year ended 2015.

Depositors’ accounts reached KD 10.90 billion i.e. an increase by KD 62.3 million or 0.6% compared to year ended 2015.

Shareholders’ equity reached KD 1.81 billion as of end Q3 this year an increase by KD 30.9 million or 1.7% compared to year ended 2015.

During Q2 this year, the Board of Directors of the Bank approved to sell Group’s interest in its subsidiary Aref Investment Group (AIG).  As a result, the assets and liabilities of AIG presented as assets classified as held for sale and liabilities directly associated with the assets classified as held for sale amounted to KD 344 million and KD 171 million, respectively. According to this presentation, the total operating revenues decreased from KD 498 million to KD 492 million, while the net operating revenues increased from KD 253 million to KD 264 million.

KFH’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) reached 17.24%, higher than the required limit of 13%, thus reiterating the strength of KFH financial position.

Al-Marzouq said that the realized profits are in line with the ambitious strategy to ensure the achievement of a sustainable growth rate, yet to achieve integration of its businesses at the Group level. The profits reiterated the bank’s resilience to adapt with the markets’ volatility, which reflects the balanced performance and robust financial position of the bank. KFH continued to efficiently manage risk and set aside the required provisions in accordance with the best practices. This reflects its strong financial position and high liquidity levels.

“Despite the tough-operating environment and the unfavorable conditions in different markets regionally and globally, KFH achieved good profitability and growth in all indicators, mainly the surge in the total operating revenues and the investment revenues. KFH managed to reduce the operating expenses in comparison to the revenues. The high profitability indicators calculated on a yearly basis reiterates the strong pillars of KFH to achieve sustained profitability” added Al-Marzouq.

He called upon the public and the private sectors to bolster coordination and collaboration in order to face what could affect the economy in the coming period, stressing the importance of creating a vision to encounter the negative impacts of the latest developments. He stressed the importance of having a comprehensive economic outlook in an attempt to avert any negative effects on the economy and businesses, not to mention the importance of the government’s role in boosting the economy through raising the capital expenditure, offering more investment opportunities and projects to the private sector, while providing attractive environment for foreign investments to take advantage of the movement of funds between markets. Kuwait enjoys open and stable economic and political climate which qualifies it to be a hub for further foreign investments and a focal point for global markets.

He expressed his confidence that the economy is in a good position and the Kuwaiti banks are armed with high levels of liquidity and quality assets, yet they operate in a stringent regulatory environment. Hence, the local banks play an important role in supporting the government’s directives in the areas of restructuring, privatization, bridging budget deficit, financing mega projects and other areas that add value to the national economy.

The bank works tirelessly to settle companies’ debts while preserve and enforce shareholders’ rights. KFH has settled many debts and negotiations for settling other debts are currently taking place. Al-Marzouq stressed the ceaseless efforts of KFH in strengthening its role in boosting the national economy, primarily through corporate finance as per the credit and legislative regulations. KFH continues its unremitting efforts to offer credit facilities for SMEs in an attempt to encourage the youth’s initiative as well as to diversify income resources. KFH has the largest share of SMEs segment that has a positive social and economic impact, not to mention comes in line with KFH’s methodology of supporting the development activities in the country.

He added that KFH-Group successfully assumed its development and financial role in the markets in which it operates. This reaffirms KFH’s ability to serve the development plans and support the development process. KFH-Bahrain inked several financing agreements for several real estate development projects. It offers sharia-compliant financial services that meet different segments of clients. KFH-Turkey is leading the participation banks in Turkey. It offers a wide range of financial services while expands and penetrates new markets. The bank targets to be among the best 10 banks in Turkey in the upcoming period. KFH-Malaysia managed to map out a new customer-centric strategy based on offering retail and corporate financial services for the industrial and commercial centers. KT Bank Ag in Germany has also achieved many good results.

He reiterated KFH’s endeavors to render customers high-end products and services that meet their aspirations and cope with the markets’ developments to affirm KFH’s leading position and boost its market share. KFH insures applying all technological applications and platforms as per the highest standards of security and accuracy, stressing the significant role of the human resources. The bank spares no efforts in hiring, training, and qualifying its human resources whilst preparing the distinguished national employees for leadership position.

Al-Marzouq expressed his thanks and appreciation to all shareholders and clients for their support and confidence. He hailed the efforts of KFH’s executive management and employees for their outstanding performance that yielded positive results, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the leadership position at all levels.