DAMMAM — Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), the multilateral development bank owned by the ten member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), maintained its robust growth momentum this year with its third quarter net profit almost doubling from last year. Net profit rose 90 percent to $12.67 million in Q3 2012 from $6.68 million posted in Q3 2011. The third quarter results were approved at Apicorp's quarterly Board meeting, held in Cairo on Oct. 5, 2012. The government of Saudi Arabia owns a 17 percent stake in Apicorp. Apicorp's cumulative net profit for the first three quarters of this year reached $63.2 million, a 33 percent jump from the $47.5 million recorded over the same period last year. Total assets rose 13 percent to reach $5.1 billion compared to $4.5 billion at the end of September 2011. Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi, Chief Executive and General Manager of Apicorp, said: “Our third quarter performance validates our strategic roadmap where we have maintained a balance between growth initiatives and risk management. Apicorp's ability to enhance its lending capacity on the back of its capital base expansion and funding diversification not only makes it stand out in today's tough banking environment, but is also delivering results for APICORP's shareholders and resulted in last month's rating upgrade by Moody's from A1 to a double Aa3.” Earlier this month, Apicorp's Board ratified a five-year term loan worth SR440 million ($117 million) toward financing the multilateral development bank's operations. Earlier this year, the Board approved a five year term loan worth SR500 million ($133 million), and approved Apicorp's first ever three year SR2.5 billion ($667 million) Shariah-compliant term loan facility, which was oversubscribed by leading Saudi banks. – SG
