MANAMA — Gulf Finance House (GFH), a Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, reported on Wednesday a net profit of $1.5 million for the quarter ending March 31 this year, a 50 percent increase from its profit of $1 million in the same period last year. The bank's total income for the period was placed at $11.1 million, compared to$12.9 million during the first quarter of 2012. The Income was primarily from management fees of funds under its management and also a profit of $ 4.9 million from repurchases of debts at discount. The bank's strategy of streamlined operations continued to bear results with a 30 percent reduction in the operating costs for the current quarter at $8.3 million, compared to $11.9 million in Q1 2012. Highlighting the bank's positive performance for the period, Hisham Al Rayes, acting CEO of GFH, said: “We are pleased to announce another quarter of continued progress at the bank as reflected in our results and following our restructuring activities. “Enhanced results for the quarter were derived from ongoing efforts to strengthen the underlying performance of the bank and our asset base, which remains significant and holds considerable value. “During the quarter, the bank and its subsidiaries focused on maximising the value of existing investments. Importantly, GFH Capital undertook due diligence on a number of potential strategic investors for Leeds United FC and the bank worked on exit arrangements for Mega City Navi Mumbai. “Today, GFH is a bank firmly focused on maximizing the potential of our current portfolio of investments and working on early exits from our projects. We have also been focusing on the further profitable growth for the bank and our investors leveraging our expertise and ability to structure unique products in growth sectors. We are pleased with the results of our efforts over the past quarter and look forward to announcing further progress in the coming period.” — SG
