Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB or the “Bank”, www.islamic-bank.com) has secured a £20million capital injection from founding shareholder Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB, www.qiib.com.qa) which will take QIIB’s stake in the bank to over 80%. The investment is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The additional capital will allow IBB to leverage its established retail brand in the Islamic finance sector to increase sales of key products, such as the recently launched Islamic alternative to mortgages the IBB Home Purchase Plan.
IBB was the first Sharia compliant retail bank to be licensed in the UK and today is the only Sharia compliant stand alone retail bank currently permitted to operate in Europe. The Bank has grown its deposits, assets and customers every year since its launch in September 2004. The Bank reported customer deposits of over £186 million, customer financing at £46 million and nearly 50,000 customers in its 2009 financial statements.
QIIB is listed on the Qatar Exchange and regulated by the Qatar Central Bank. QIIB has assets in excess of £3billion* and annual reported profits of £95million* in 2009. Founded in 1991, QIIB is well-placed to provide a full array of retail and corporate banking services.
The UK has led the Western world in the promotion of Sharia compliant financial services in recent times and this investment in IBB reinforces the UK position as the leader in the development of Islamic financial services globally. This investment continues the trend of recent Qatari investments in UK companies and real estate and is a further vote of confidence in the growing UK Islamic Banking sector.
“This is very good news for IBB’s shareholders, staff and customers as well as for the Islamic Banking sector in the UK which is well positioned for continued growth.”
Gerry Deegan – Managing Director
Gerry Deegan, Managing Director at IBB commented “QIIB was instrumental in establishing IBB as the first Islamic bank in the West and this capital injection demonstrates its continuing commitment to IBB. This is very good news for IBB’s shareholders, staff and customers as well as for the Islamic Banking sector in the UK. We look forward to working with QIIB to jointly develop and promote new markets, products and services”.
Sultan Choudhury, Commercial Director commented “This investment in IBB allows us to grow our business and remain the pioneer in providing innovative Islamic finance products to Retail customers in the UK and beyond. Our customers will be reassured that one of our founding shareholders has continued to commit to us for the long term and work with IBB to achieve its exciting objectives“.
