MANAMA — Ibdar Bank, the Bahrain-based wholesale Islamic investment bank, recorded a $3 million net profit in the first quarter of the year ended March 31, 2015, an increase of 200% compared to $1 million in the same period last year. The latest quarterly financial result was marked by strong performance and profitability, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. Total income for the period also rose significantly by 65.8% to $6.3 million versus $3.8 million in the prior-year period. Strong profits can be attributed to an increase of 1778% in the bank's income generated from investment banking services over the prior year as well as from income generated by gains made in the trading of investments and securities and profitable exits from existing investments. Also during the period, total owners' equity increased by 1.4% and the total asset base grew by 3.3% reaching $441 million at the end of the first quarter. Highlighting the positive performance for the period, Ibdar Bank CEO Basel Al-Haj-Issa said "we're delighted to announce our results for the first quarter of 2015. We entered the year in a strong position and have continued to build on that momentum – effectively executing our strategy and continuing to create opportunities that are sound, profitable and can deliver recurring steams of income. Notably, during the quarter, we completed our second financing deal in the African aviation sector with the acquisition and leasing of a Bombardier Q400 Next Gen aircraft to RwandAir. This follows our ground breaking transaction in late 2014 with Ethiopian Airlines, which marked the first ever Islamic financing deal in African aviation and for which we have already distributed our first dividend to investors in the transaction.” Al-Haj-Issa further said “while identifying new investments, we have also maintained a strong focus on maximizing our existing assets as well as making progress on achieving profitable exists. During the period, we concluded the sale and exit from the last remaining villas in our Saar Central project – a $30 million, 82-villa development. Going forward, we have a strong pipeline of opportunities that we are pursuing and will continue to leverage our expertise and ability to structure unique products to create value for the bank and our shareholders and investors. This includes the acquisition of three additional aircraft leased to a GCC aviation company, a fast moving consumer goods company in Morocco, and a contracting company in Saudi Arabia. We are pleased with the progress made in the past quarter and look forward to delivering even stronger results in the coming periods.” Ibdar is active in financing, private equity in the GCC and MENA markets as well as real estate investments in the region and globally. The bank has extensive experience in sectors including infrastructure, oil & gas, maritime and retail, among others. — SG
