Kuwait’s largest financial institution, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), has reported a net profit of 83.7 million Kuwaiti dinars ($280 million) for the first nine months of 2002, or 57 fils per share versus 56 fils a year ago. Return on equity reached 25.7 percent putting NBK among the most profitable banks worldwide by this measure.
NBK had assets of five billion KD ($16.7 billion) at the end of September 2002 and a market capitalization of KD1.4 billion ($4.7 billion). During 2002, both Moody's and FitchRatings upgraded their rating of NBK. A recent upgrade by Moody's now makes NBK the highest rated bank for financial strength among all Emerging Market banks.
“We have been able to maintain a solid performance even as lower interest rates have taken their toll on our income from free funds during the last nine months thanks to our strategy of diversifying sources of income,” said Ibrahim S. Dabdoub, NBK CEO.
“NBK's success in growing assets without compromising asset quality coupled with the resilience of our non-interest income mitigated the adverse impact of reduced interest rates. The solid results are also a reflection of effective cost management which has increased our operational efficiency.”
“NBK will continue to pursue its strategy of diversification to maintain its growth momentum and stability,” Dabdoub said. The recent approval by the Saudi Arabian authorities of NBK's request to open a branch in the Kingdom is viewed as an important step towards implementing the regional expansion strategy of the bank in line with its goal of diversifying income.
NBK already has the widest international network of all banks in the region with offices in New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Bahrain and Lebanon. During the year, NBK also expanded its mutual funds offering to 15 funds that cover a broader spectrum of asset classes.
NBK was founded in 1952 as the first indigenous bank and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Gulf Region. It is by far the largest financial institution in Kuwait with an effective market dominance in the commercial banking market.
With capital resources in excess of KD380 million ($1.3 billion), NBK is ranked amongst the top 300 banks in the world and the fourth amongst Arab banks. In 2001, NBK reported a record net profit of $342 million—one of the most profitable banks in the Arab World—with a return on average equity of 25.4 percent and total assets of $14.6 billion. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
