THE Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) announced Sunday that Moody's Credit Rating Agency reaffirmed its long term and short term ratings at Baa2/P2 and its stand alone BFSR at D, all ratings carried a Stable outlook. The action by Moody's is a reflection of the consistent and significant improvements on all key financial indicators. The BFSR is an indication of standalone financial strength. It also indicates the corporation's solid internal control framework, its prudent strategic initiatives and favorable future prospects. Commenting on the recent action by Moody's, Hisham Al Razzuqi, CEO, said “the reaffirmation by Moody's is a reflection of GIC's success in building a strong franchise while maintaining strong financial condition. We have succeeded in our efforts to grow profits while improving capital adequacy, liquidity, and overall risk profile, despite a challenging market environment. Given the current volatile global economic environment, this action by a leading international rating agency is especially gratifying.” Earlier this year, Fitch as well reaffirmed GIC's long term ratings and outlook at BBB/Stable. GIC posted a profit of $107 million for the first half of 2012, up 12.6 percent compared to the $95 million posted for the same period last year. From a financial strength perspective, the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio reached 31.4 percent, comfortably exceeding the international and regional requirements. – SG
