Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, has reported a total net profit of BD8.34 million ($22  million) for FY 2022 compared to a net profit of BD5.16 million ($13.6 million) the year before. This was mainly due to higher core income for the year.

 

Announcing the results for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2022, Ithmaar Bank said its net profit attributable to equity holders for the year hit BD3.10 million, thus registering a 706% increase compared to the net loss of BD0.51 million reported for 2021. 

 

The bank reported profits for the year, despite that the financial results showed a net loss attributable to equity holders for the three-month period ended December 31, 2022 of BD8.29 million compared to the net profit of BD2.11 million reported for the same period in 2021. 

 

According to Ithmaar, the total net loss for the three-month period ended December 31, 2022 was BD6.86 million compared to the BD3.82 million net profit reported for the same period in 2021. 

 

This is mainly due to prudent impairment provisions as well as higher taxation charges from the group’ subsidiary in Pakistan, it stated.

 

On the results, Chairman Prince Amr Al Faisal said the bank continues to report profits for the year as it has started the next phase of growth as an exclusively corporate-focused Islamic bank.

 

"This new phase marks an important milestone in the Group’s transformation, and adds to our decades-long history as key pioneers of the region’s Islamic banking and finance industry," he noted.

 

"This follows completion of the transaction on July 7, which involved the bank’s parent company Ithmaar Holding, selling some of its key assets in Bahrain, including its consumer banking business as well as Ithmaar Holdings’ ownership stake in BBK and Solidarity Group Holding, to Al Salam Bank," stated Prince Amr. 

 

Following the transaction, which was approved by Ithmaar Holding shareholders at an Extra Ordinary General Meeting in March last year, the bank continues to operate as a CBB-licensed Islamic bank wholly-owned by Ithmaar Holding and specialised in Corporate Banking and related services.  

 

The results show that the group’s share of income from unrestricted investment accounts as a Mudarib increased to BD176.99 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, thus posting a 106% increase compared to BD85.84 million for the same period in 2021. 

 

This contributed to increasing the group’s share of income from unrestricted investment accounts as a Mudarib to BD83.07 million for the year ended 31 December 2022, a 75 percent increase compared to BD47.55 million for 2021, it added.