MANAMA – GFH Financial Group reported sound performance and profitability in its financial results for the first half of 2015 ended June 30, 2015. For the first six months of 2015, the Group reported a net profit of $13.6 million compared with $14.8 million during the prior year period. Net profit for the second quarter of 2015 was $7.6 million versus $12.4 million reported in the second quarter of 2014. Last year's results included a one-off income of $33 million as a result of a recovery. Excluding this one-off gain, net profit for the first six months of 2015 increased to $13.6 million compared to a loss of $18.2 million for the prior year period. On a quarterly basis, when normalized, net profit rose by $7.6 million from a loss of $20.6 million in the second quarter of 2014. Contributing to results for the current quarter was income generated from the placement of a new investment in Dubai, coupled with improved performance from the Group's subsidiary, Khaleeji Commercial Bank. Total income for the first half of 2015 was $55.6 million compared with $60.5 million for the same period of 2014. Operating expenses for the period were $39.6 million compared with $35.3 million last year. Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH Financial Group, said “in the first half of the year, we continued to successfully execute our strategy investing in new cash yielding opportunities in defensive sectors that have sound growth potential.” Key among these was a new investment in a British curriculum private school in Dubai in June 2015, which has contributed to our second quarter results. This followed our May 2014 acquisition of a 1300 pupil, American curriculum K-12 private school also located in the UAE.” — SG
