Al Salam Bank, headquartered in Bahrain, and a leading regional Islamic bank, posted a 7 percent rise in net profit for the first quarter of 2022 to BD6.5 million, compared to BD6.1 million for the corresponding period last year.
The increase in profit is attributed to overall improvement in macroeconomic conditions. Accordingly, the earnings per share increased by 12 percent to 2.8 fils, as compared to 2.5 fils in the same period last year.
The total operating income for the quarter stood at BD26.0 million, which reflected a 7 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2021. Total shareholders equity decreased by 2 percent from BD296.3 million in 2021, to BD290.2 million by the end of the first quarter of 2022, as a result of dividends distribution.
Al Salam financing assets at a record high
Financing assets increased by 3 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to a record BD1.4 billion, which was the highest since the establishment of the bank. In March 2022, total assets remained unchanged at BD2.7 billion.
The growth of financing assets was accompanied by an improvement in asset quality during the first quarter of 2022, with the NPA ratio decreasing to 2.07 percent, which was driven by efficient recovery initiatives and new quality asset bookings.
The bank’s sukuk portfolio also increased by 5% to BD672 million in March 2022. The bank continued to maintain a strong capital adequacy ratio of 26.9% as of March 31, 2022.
Shaikh Khalid bin Mustahil Al Mashani, the Chairman of Al Salam bank, said that the bank had continued its strong performance in 2021, and made a strong start to 2022, in spite of global economic instability and volatility.
Growth initiatives for Al Salam bank
He further added that the implementation of growth initiatives by the bank to acquire further market share had reflected positively on the bank’s performance during the first quarter of 2022. In the same statement, he said that the bank was well-positioned to achieve further growth and success in time to come. He also mentioned that the bank looks forward to continuing with its strategy to grow its balance sheet, improve assets and enhance profitability.
Al Salam Bank had recently announced the acquisition of Ithmaar Bank’s consumer banking division alongside a number of other financial assets in a landmark transaction valued at $2.2 billion.
Group CEO of Al Salam Bank, Rafik Nayed, said that the banks existing core banking book continued its upward journey, which was driven by strong organic growth and optimisation across verticals.
He also said that the bank’s existing operations continued to yield strong results, while the acquisition of Ithmaar Bank’s consumer banking division complemented the bank’s strategy of achieving sustainable long-term growth. Rafik Nayed also mentioned that the bank is focused on strengthening its agile and resilient model by continuing to invest in offerings to enhance customer experience.