ShareKUWAIT: Boubyan Bank reported KD 57.8 million in net profits for the year 2022 with a growth rate of 19%, with an earnings per share of 14.2 fils along with a recommendation to distribute 6 fils in cash dividends and 6% in bonus shares. Moreover, the bank continued its precautionary approach by allocating KD 43.6 million in provisions.
Abdulaziz Al-ShayaThe Chairman, Mr Abdulaziz Abdullah Al-Shaya, stated: "Thanks to Almighty Allah, we recorded outstanding results in 2022 despite the domestic and global challenges that affected the performance of banks and other business sectors in general."
Mr Al-Shaya stated that all of the bank's key indicators witnessed a remarkable growth in 2022, where the total consolidated assets of Boubyan Bank Group increased to KD 7.9 billion at a growth rate of 7%. Moreover, the total of customers' deposits grew by 6% to reach KD 6 billion, while the financing portfolio grew by 7% to reach KD 5.9 billion, and operating income grew by 7% to reach KD 201 million.
Mr Al-Shaya stressed the Board's full and ongoing support to the efforts of the bank's highly-professional executive management, stating that he valued their efforts towards achieving the good results, which could not have been achieved without the sincere efforts of the management and all employees of the bank.
A Great Year of Achievements
Mr Adel Abdul Wahab Al-Majed, Vice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer of Boubyan Bank, stated: "Last year was marked by many milestones and successes achieved by the bank in pursue of its expansion plans, aiming for further local expansion in addition to expanding regionally and internationally."
"The bank's market share and its ongoing growth reflect the high levels in customer service and digital excellence, which are the fruit of the bank's clear strategy, professional executive team, and continued investment in our human resources with special focus on our national cadres.", Al-Majed added.
Moreover, Al-Majed highlighted Boubyan Bank's achievements during 2022 and its success in earning many awards from renowned regional and international institutions in addition to the ongoing improvement of its credit ratings from international rating agencies, reflecting the positive role played by the bank along with its outstanding contributions to the Islamic banking industry in various areas.
Last year, Boubyan Bank made a significant achievement by receiving an upgrade of its credit rating from Moody's and Standard & Poor's, where the bank's "long-term issuer credit rating" received an upgrade to A2 and A respectively; such ratings placed Boubyan Bank in the lead of local banks and ahead of all Islamic banks rated by Standard & Poor's in Kuwait, while ranking second at the level of all local banks rated by Moody's and Fitch. Al-Majed stressed that this actually increased our challenges and made us more persistent to continue our achievements.
Moreover, Global Finance named Boubyan Bank the "World's Best Islamic Digital Bank" for the eighth consecutive year, owing to the bank's continuous achievements in this area as well as the role Boubyan plays in offering the highest levels of digital services in Kuwait, and its market shares. Additionally, Boubyan Bank received another 3 awards, namely, the Best Islamic Digital Bank in Kuwait, the Best Islamic Digital Bank in the Middle East, and the Most Innovative Bank in the Middle East.
Moreover, Boubyan Bank joined the list of Forbes Top 100 Listed Companies in the Middle East, which recognizes a decade full of achievements and successes that took the bank to the top of the pyramid of the Kuwaiti banking industry. This list, which is prepared on an annual basis by Forbes, is prepared against a set of financial criteria, the most significant of which are market valuation, sales, total assets, and net profits of 2021.
Furthermore, Euro money International named Boubyan Bank the "Best Bank for SMEs in Kuwait" in recognition of the bank's achievements over the past years in supporting SMEs, in addition to the bank's outstanding contribution to giving SMEs a foothold in the local economy by offering them many services that cater for their business needs.
Boubyan Bank's Key Financial IndicatorsProducts and Services
In 2022, Boubyan concluded its "Boubyan Accelerator" program, the first of its kind in Kuwait in collaboration with DIFC FinTech Hive. The program aims to accelerate the growth and expansion of all types of Kuwaiti tech startups, and aims to help them launch and accelerate their ideas. This came as a part of the bank's strategy to support them in their marketing efforts, accounting, and finance management, thereby enhancing entrepreneurship in the promising technology sector.
The bank continued offering special products and services to its customers, and launched many campaigns for the youths' special account, PRIME, along with many promotions, benefits, and experiences that are of interest to this segment. The bank also launched the National Day Prepaid Card with a special and unique design, accompanied by exclusive discounts and offers for this card. Additionally, the bank launched the limited edition of FIFA World Cup Prepaid Card, with many exclusive benefits and promotions throughout the year.
Furthermore, for the first time in Kuwait, the bank took steady steps towards reinforcing its sustainability approach by launching its "Go Green" initiative. This became the first initiative of its kind among institutions in Kuwait that allows customers to own electric cars in collaboration with BNK Agency for Hybrid Cars in Kuwait.
Corporate Social Responsibility
During 2022, Boubyan Bank reiterated its prominent CSR leadership position and sustainable role in supporting the development and growth journey in Kuwait through several events and initiatives that highlighted the bank's local leadership; one of the most prominent initiatives was the "Speak Up and We Will Listen" campaign which highlighted the importance of mental health for the society, and its role in maintaining the health of individuals and their physical safety.
The bank concluded 2022 with the bank's organization of one of its most iconic CSR initiatives to support the youths, namely, "Kuwait Coffee Festival", which was organized for the fifth consecutive year. Additionally, the bank organized many sports events for both genders, the most prominent of which was "Boubyan Cycling Tournament" in memory of one of the bank's employees, engineer Alaa Maeen Al-Otaibi, who passed away while biking almost one year ago. Also, the bank entered into a partnership with PadelIn Courts for one year in order to help promote the game among Kuwaiti youths as the game is gaining grounds globally and regionally.
The 5th Noor Boubyan Campaign organized by Boubyan Bank in collaboration with the International Islamic Charitable Organization and the Dinarain Initiative succeeded in confirming the renowned charitable and humanitarian role of Kuwait worldwide, by achieving the campaign's goals of successful removal of cataract, along with other charitable activities.
The Bank's Human Resources... Our Real Strength
Speaking of the Human Resources Group, the bank continued supporting its human resources and national cadres and was able to reach the highest percentage of manpower across the private sector which now exceeds 80%, and continued its enablement approach for women who now account for 26% of the bank's employees, with many of them occupying leadership positions.
In 2022, Boubyan Bank invested in its human cadres to improve their competence and sharpen their skills by offering them training programs and courses in cooperation with top companies specialized in human resources' consulting and development. This came out of Boubyan Bank's keenness to adopt leading international standards to ensure that the bank is ready for future challenges by qualifying its leaders and providing them with the necessary tools to sufficiently compete in the market.
