George Richani

KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) reported a net profit of KD 21.1 million for the nine month period ended 30th September 2021 against a net loss of KD 7.9 million incurred in the corresponding period in 2020. EPS was at 9 fils compared to loss per share of 9 fils in 2020. Operating Income for the current period was KD 116.4 million, up 13 percent over the same period last year, while operating profits increased to KD 62 million, representing a 17 percent rise over the same period in 2020. This improvement in performance is driven by efficient cost of funds management, improved fee based income, and lower provisions for credit losses.

Total Assets increased by 4 percent, to reach KD 5.2 billion compared to the same period last year, driven by an increase in investments and improvements in liquid assets, while loans and advances decreased by 3 percent to reach KD 3.2 billion, and customer deposits grew by 13 percent to reach KD 3.8 billion. The bank's balance sheet is healthy with strong capital, adequate liquidity and impaired loan coverage ratios. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio stood at 2.6 percent with the NPL coverage at 258 percent. The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 17.15 percent while shareholders' equity stood at KD 512 million.

George Richani, Group CEO of ABK said: "The bank has delivered a robust financial performance, bolstered by a cautiously improved macroeconomic outlook for Kuwait. Our cost of funds has decreased on account of efficient cost of fund management, and our UAE and Egypt operations continue to perform well, with Egypt reflecting a 12 percent increase in operating income. These results highlight the bank's progress quarter on quarter this year, and confirm that we are on track to deliver sustainable results to our stakeholders.

"We have continued our strategy of realignment of the balance sheet, supplemented with our focus on increased synergies across our Group entities to fully serve all our clients in the geographies in which we operate. "Moving forward we will remain focused on our strategic objectives in order to deliver strong and consistent returns for our shareholders. Further, our investments in digitization are delivering efficiencies within the organization. We will continue to invest in our people, technology and capabilities which form part of our growth strategy."

ABK recently launched its first Kuwaiti dinar denominated bond Issuance of KD 50 million which was oversubscribed. The success of this bond issuance shows market confidence in the Kuwait Banking sector in general and in ABK in particular. In line with ABK's focus on service enhancement through digitization, the Bank launched its customer-facing intelligent chatbot "Ask Sanad" and announced the successful completion of the Phase I proof-of-concept (POC) blockchain solution for electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC).

The bank recently upgraded its core banking platform to support the Kuwait National Payments System and upgraded its credit card system to the latest version. ABK has also launched its first draw account, Alfouz, which is intended to facilitate a positive savings culture amongst Kuwaiti nationals and residents. Alfouz offers the largest single weekly draw prize of KD 10,000 and a grand draw prize which will be paid over a period of 10 years at KD 5,000 per month.

ABK continues to focus on employee development with the launch of Moody's - ABK Graduate Program, in line with the Bank's commitment to create and sustain a robust performance-based culture with the view of developing and promoting talent from within the bank. Employees are encouraged to continue learning and developing and the bank has put in place an extremely effective learning & development plan that includes free learning through various platforms.