Mumtalakat full year loss for 2009 doubled

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co, the Arabian Gulf country’s sovereign wealth fund, said its loss for 2009 more than doubled from a year earlier due to “the truly global effects of the economic crisis.”

The net loss widened to 183 million dinars ($485 million) from $183 million in 2008. Revenue fell 28 percent to $2.75 billion from $3.84 billion a year earlier, the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

In the statement, Talal al Zain, chief executive officer, Mumtalakat, said: “I would characterise 2009 as a year in which we took an inward looking approach to prepare for the future."

He added: The company sees an opportunity to this year “potentially start the process of rebalancing our portfolio through measured steps which fit in with our role of investing for Bahrain."

Mumtalakat, established in July 2006, holds stakes in more than 35 companies and had assets of 3.4 billion dinars as of Dec 31, 2009, according to its website.