Bahrain Islamic Bank (BIsB) posted $85 million in net profit for the third quarter of this year, or an 84 percent over its $46 million net profits during the same period last year, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Khalid Abdulla Al Bassam, BIsB Board chairman, said: “This excellent performance is attributed to the balance in diversifying investment risk, proper application of the bank's financial policies and extreme care in not involving the Bank's financial resources and investments in high risk transactions that could undermine the Bank's financial position.” In spite of the prevailing global financial crisis due to the US mortgage credit crisis in the US, the bank was able, through the application of the Shariah compliance standards laid down by the Shariah Supervisory Board, to properly select its banking transactions to achieve positive results. In addition, the Bank enjoys a high level of liquidity that would enable it to go forward with confident steps. “The operating income rose to $153 million at the rate of 63 percent compared with $94 million during the same period of last year. Such increase is due to the growth in retail and corporate finance and achieving attractive returns from the bank's diversified investments according to the bank's plan for this year,” Al Bassam said. He further said: “Total income from investment accounts amounted to $32 million which was further evidence of the management's policy to offer the highest returns to investors which enabled the bank to gain a bigger local market share in spite of the strong and increased competition. This is also further proof of the high quality of the Bank's assets.” Meanwhile, Mohamed Ebrahim Mohamed, BIsB chief executive, said: “The bank enjoys a strong financial position as its total assets increased by 47 percent during third quarter of 2008 amounting to $2.5 billion. Such increase focused on finance transaction and continuous growth and diversification of investments in general. These figures also show a significant growth in investment portfolios of all types to reduce risks according to the bank's general policy.” “The bank also launched new products to raise its share of Islamic finance and deposits in the local market at the most reasonable rates. New products are set to be launched before the end of this year. BIsB plans to launch new investment products to all its customers at higher returns that compete with existing products in the local market. The Bank continues its plan to improve the quality of services provided to its customers through all branches, including electronic services through the most advanced hardware and technologies,” he added. Moreover, the bank's executive management is closely monitoring developments on the world financial markets and the difficulties experienced by certain international banks due to the pursuit of certain policies, Ebrahim added. “The bank's management believes that compliance with the rules and principles of Shariah provide the solution for all crises and difficulties. We in BIsB continue to communicate and coordinate with all the concerned authorities and shareholders for preserving the interests of depositors and shareholders,” Ebrahim noted. __
