based Islamic retail bank, reported a net profit of $16.73 million for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016, compared to the $11.39 million net profit reported for the same period last year. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Bank for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016 was $6.50 million, compared to the $2.11 million profit reported for the same period last year. Net profit for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016 amounted to $4.77 million compared to the net loss of $1.65 million reported for the same period last year. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Bank for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016 was $2.10 million compared to the $3.55 million net loss reported for the same period last year. The announcement by Ithmaar Bank Chairman Prince Amr Al Faisal followed the review and approval, by the Board of Directors, of the bank's consolidated financial results for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016. "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that Ithmaar Bank continues to report profits, that the Bank's core retail business continues to perform well, and that Bank's net income before overseas taxation continues to increase," said Prince Amr. "Ithmaar Bank's continued focus on growing its core retail banking business is clearly delivering results. The financial results of the nine-month period ended September 2016 show that the bank's net income before overseas taxation grew to $36.98 million, an increase of 5.9 percent compared to the $34.92 million reported for the same period last year. The bank's net income before overseas taxation for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, 2016 was $9.42 million, an increase of 187.7 percent compared to $3.27 million reported for the same period last year," he said. "I am also pleased to report that total expenses for the nine-month period September 2016 are under control and amounted to $143.17 million, a marginal increase of 1.8 percent from the total expenses of $140.59 million reported for the same period last year," said Prince Amr. "This is despite the continuous expansion of Ithmaar Bank's retail banking operations both in Bahrain, where we added a new branch in Galali earlier this year, and in Pakistan, where we added 43 new branches to date," he said. Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Abdul Rahim said the financial results demonstrate that the bank's efforts to grow its core retail banking business were paying off. "This is evident from the equity of unrestricted investment account holders growing to $2.45 billion as of Sept. 30, 2016, an 11.6 percent increase compared to $2.19 billion as of Sept. 30, 2015, and an 11.5 percent increase compared to $2.19 billion as Dec. 31, 2015," he said. "This increase reflects customer confidence in the bank, and is a further evidence that the Bank's efforts to grow continuously closer to its customers are paying off," said Abdul Rahim. "Current accounts and due to investors, for example, grew to $3.59 billion as of Sept. 30, 2016, a 7.6 percent increase compared to $3.34 billion as Sept. 30, 2015, and a 6.2 percent increase compared to $3.39 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015. Liquid assets now represent 12.7 percent of total assets compared to 10.6 percent as of Dec. 31, 2015," he said. Earlier this year, Ithmaar Bank inaugurated its Qalali branch, the bank's fourth full-service branch in Muharraq and its eighteenth in Bahrain. Ithmaar Bank this year also installed two new Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Hamad Town, in response to customer demands. In line with its commitment to continuously improve its customer service offerings, Ithmaar Bank also conduced various process-reengineering exercises. In line with this same commitment, Ithmaar Bank also offered its credit card holders the chance to win prizes worth over $75,000 as part of the Bank's unique credit card offer. Ithmaar Bank recently also signed a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) with Eskan Bank to provide government-subsided financing for the Danaat Al Riffa development. — SG
