Gulf Finance Q2 profit jumps on fees, new projects

FINANCIAL CLOUT: Gulf Finance House is the second largest company by value on the Bahraini stock market. (Getty Images)

Bahraini Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House on Monday posted its third-biggest quarterly profit ever in the second quarter on higher fee income from infrastructure projects and its start-up businesses.

Net income in the three months ending June 30 rose 40.5 percent to $104 million, or $13.14 a share, compared with $74 million, or $9.26 a share, in the year earlier period, Gulf Finance said in a statement.

Quarterly earnings "were derived mainly from fees and from the latest economic infrastructure projects", Gulf Finance said, referring in particular to an energy hub it is building in Libya.

Gulf Finance, which is also building energy districts in India and Qatar, further cited "a strong contribution from the bank's venture capital business" as a reason for the profit rise, without giving details.

Manama-based Gulf Finance, Bahrain's second-largest company by market value, has set up a $2 billion cement firm to tap surging demand for materials in the Gulf, as well as a new $1 billion bank focusing on the energy sector.

The bank, which invests according to Islamic principles, in February a project to build an energy zone west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on the Mediterranean Sea, would demand $3.8 billion in investments.

It is also a stakeholder in First Energy Bank, a new lender set up this year to invest in oil and gas, petrochemicals and power sectors in the Middle East and North Africa.

Shares of Gulf Finance closed 1.06 percent higher in Bahrain on Monday and are up more than 12 percent this year, outperforming the index, which is up just under 3 percent.

The bank's stock is also listed in Kuwait and Dubai, while its global depositary receipts trade in London. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.