Acting Group CEO, AbdulWahab Al-Roshood said that KFH achieved a net profit of KD 51.6 million for the first quarter of 2019 for KFH shareholders compared to KD 44 million for the same period last year with an increase of 17.4 percent.
He added during the first quarter 2019 – KFH Earnings Webcast, that the total finance Income for the first quarter of the year reached KD 228.4 million with a growth of 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
Total Operating Income for the first quarter of the year reached KD 196.8 million with a growth of 4.1 percent. The net operating income reached KD 118.1 million an increase of 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The earnings per share for the first quarter of 2019 reached 7.50 fils, compared to 6.39 fils for the same period last year with an increase of 17.4 percent.
The financing portfolio stabilized at KD 9.36 billion, Total Assets reached KD 18.38 billion with an increase of KD 612.4 million or 3.4 percent compared to the end of last year. Depositors Accounts reached KD 12.299 billion an increase of KD 518.6 million or 4.4 percent compared to the end of last year.
Al-Roshood continued: “KFH has achieved positive performance for the fifth consecutive year. Resulting from the core business, the operating profits reflected by the success of KFH’s strategy set by the Board of Directors and skillfully followed up by the executive management. The profits came in line with KFH’s plans and programs, economic developments and market movements. The results confirm KFH’s feasible decisions to focus on its core business, exit of non-strategic investments, and deepen its global professional banking practices along with high commitment to regulations.”
He added that to expand the customer base, KFH opened Al-Qairawan Branch, its 62nd branch in Kuwait, while the branches dedicated for ladies increased to 45 branches. The benefits of the products, the banking accounts, have been increased. KFH launched unprecedented campaign for Al-Rabeh account that offers a total of 54kg in gold to 23 clients over one year.
KFH continued to provide value-added awards through “Hesabi” account and enhanced the services and rewards of bank cards by launching the largest campaigns and awards in the banking sector. These improvements have increased card usages, promoting the e-payment methods, facilitating the fund transfer and raising retail sales.
With regards to KFH’s sukuk issuances, he said that the bank, through KFH Capital, has recently succeeded in arranging two issuances worth of $1.6 billion Sukuk for First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), with a group of regional and international banks.
This step confirms KFH Group’s pioneering role in the Sukuk market and establishes Sukuk as a vital source of finance for governments, companies and major development projects. The extensive experience of KFH Group in the Sukuk issuance has positioned it as a trustworthy and highly recognized organization by major corporates and governments globally.
KFH is continuing with its priority of attracting the outstanding young national human resources elements and provide them with opportunities for the successful development of their professional capabilities and skills. KFH is presenting the best example in this national field affirming its continuous pursuit of supporting and strengthening the national manpower.
KFH recently organized the largest Kuwaiti youth recruitment event where it hired 80 young Kuwaitis out of a total of 150 job applications.
KFH’s ongoing prudential strategy boosted by its growth opportunities and its substantial market share requirements such as national calibers in charge to become the consecutive generation to shoulder the responsibility in supporting the country’s development process. Regarding the potential Acquisition and Merger with AUB Bahrain, he said:
“We have disclosed to the regulatory authorities and the market the latest developments in this regard, and there are no further updates at this time. All these disclosures were published through the official website of Kuwait Boursa and any new development will be updated as and when it comes available.”
Group’s Chief Financial Officer at KFH Shadi Zahran said:
“The Group has achieved net profit after tax (NPAT) attributable to shareholders for the period ended 31st March 2019 of KD 51.6 million higher by 17.4 percent compared to Q1 2018 of KD 44 million. It is worth to highlight that the profit before tax for the first quarter 2019 at KD 78.1 million was significantly higher than same period last year “by 33.7 percent” and that due to one off tax charge recorded in Malaysia of KD 11 million in Q1 2019. The recent change in the tax law in Malaysia impacted the deferred tax asset and took that impact in full in Q1 2019.”
He added: “Total Operating income at KD 196.8 million increased by KD 7.7 million or 4.1 percent (as compared to same period last year) the increase is mainly from Investment Income by KD 14.2 million, Net gain from foreign currencies by KD 2.3 million and Fees and Commission Income by KD 0.8 million.”
The increase in investment income is attributable to early closure of divestments compared to last year which increases the contribution of investment income to total operating income to reach 13 percent vs. 6 percent last year while keeping the other non-financing income contribution at 21.9 percent compared to 20.9 percent last year.
KFH’s has successfully launched digital transformation initiatives to suit the needs of key operational sectors to develop and manage their business efficiently as well as maximize its leadership and market share, in accordance with the best quality standards.
He said that KFH has continued its efforts in Banking Technology in Q1 by implementing a Robotic Process Automation program an Artificial Intelligence Technology that streamlined its internal processes for customer financing transactions, thus increasing efficiency and reducing the processing time.
Also, KFH implemented SKIPLINO which is an electronic queuing/booking system to improve the branch visit experience. Available now also at KFH.com, and soon via KFH Online, this service makes the banking services more accessible for customers at their own convenient time in addition to finding the least busy branches at the time.
Meanwhile, KFH started operating an instant cross-border remittance service using RippleNet technology. It also upgraded its automotive platform kfh.com/auto to encompass vehicles, marine equipment and motorcycles.
Source Kuwait Times