Ahli United Bank, Bahrain’s largest lender by market value, posted yesterday an 11.8% gain in its fourth-quarter net profit, boosted by an increase in net interest income.

The bank made a net profit of $78.6mn for the three months to December 31, compared with $70.3mn in the corresponding period of 2011.

Arqaam Capital had forecast the bank would make a quarterly profit of $118mn.

Full-year profit came in at $335.7mn, up from $310.6mn in 2011.

The rise in profit came despite “continuing uncertain and challenging business and operating environment”, which will continue into 2013, said Fahad al-Rajaan, chairman of Ahli United Bank.

Net interest income jumped 12.3% in 2012, the bank said, to $636.4mn. There was a slight rise in provisioning for bad loans compared to 2011, with the bank setting aside $209.9mn in 2012 against the previous year’s $203.2mn.

The bank said earlier this month that it was seeking regional acquisition targets after making a total profit of $212.9mn on the sale of a 29.4% stake in Qatar’s Ahli Bank to Qatar Foundation.

 

Burgan Bank

Kuwait’s Burgan Bank, a unit of Kuwait Projects Co (Kipco), said full-year net profit rose 10% in 2012 compared with the previous year as its overseas operations grew.

Burgan, which is the Gulf state’s third biggest lender by assets, said in a statement yesterday that its full-year net profit rose to 55.6mn Kuwaiti dinars ($196.8mn) from 50.6mn dinars in 2011.

The result missed forecasts by analysts at Kuwait’s Global Investment House and Egypt’s EFG-Hermes Holding who have predicted a net profit of 68mn dinars and 62mn dinars respectively.

Fourth-quarter net profit inched up 0.6% to 9.22mn dinars in 2012 from 9.17mn dinars a year earlier, according to Zawya Dow Jones calculations based on Zawya.com data.

The bank said its full-year operating income grew 16% to 190mn dinars and that its international operations, excluding its new subsidiary in Turkey, accounted for 48% of its total revenues in 2012.

Total assets stood at 5.98bn dinars at the end of 2012, up 31% from 4.55bn dinars a year earlier, the bank said in a separate statement posted on the Kuwait bourse website.

 

Union Properties

Dubai-based Union Properties swung to a profit in 2012, despite a sharp drop in revenues, as gains in the valuation of properties boosted its bottom line.

The company made a 12-month net profit of 175.8mn UAE dirhams ($48mn), compared with a net loss of 1.57bn dirhams in 2011, UP said in a brief statement posted on the Dubai bourse website.

While the company made an operating loss of 31.9mn dirhams last year, its earnings were boosted by a gain on valuation of properties, according to the statement.

Its revenues fell to 1.64bn dirhams in 2012, from 4.92bn dirhams in the year before.

UP, in which Emirates NBD is the single largest shareholder, is among several Dubai-based real estate companies that were forced to re-assess their plans after being hit hard by a sharp fall in the emirate’s property prices in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008.

But there are signs that the real estate market is picking up now. The company’s total assets at the end of 2012 amounted to about 9.1bn dirhams, compared with 9.2bn dirhams a year earlier.

 

DFM

A strengthening Dubai economy is likely to underpin the Dubai Financial Market Co’s growth in 2013, after the bourse operator swung to a profit last year on higher trading volumes.

It made a 12-month net profit of 35.2mn dirhams ($9.6mn), compared with a loss of 6.9mn dirhams in 2011, DFM said in an e-mailed statement.

Revenues reached 191mn dirhams in 2012, up from 176.5mn dirhams in the year before, comprising of 146.5mn dirhams in operational revenue and 44.5mn dirhams of investment and other revenues.

DFM, which earns a bulk of its revenue from trading commissions, recorded a 52% increase in trading value to 48.7bn dirhams in 2012 as it benefited from increased investor interest amid rising optimism about the emirate’s economy.

The benchmark Dubai Index is the region’s top performer this year, up about 16% to date, after adding some 20% in 2012.

 

Etisalat

Etisalat, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator, has written down the value of businesses in Pakistan and Sudan by a combined $769mn, blaming tough political and economic conditions and crimping quarterly profit growth.

The state-controlled firm operates in about 15 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, having expanded into new markets in the last decade in an attempt to offset the impact of the launch of domestic rival du in 2007.

These acquisitions have provided mixed results, with Saudi Arabia affiliate Mobily among most analysts’ top regional picks, but Etisalat has found it much harder going in lower income markets outside the Gulf.

Last year, the Abu Dhabi firm wrote off the $827mn value of its Indian operation in its 2011 fourth-quarter results.

Of the latest 2.83bn dirhams of impairments, 2.37bn relate to Pakistani affiliate Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd (PTCL) and 459mn to Sudan fixed-lined operator Canar.

Etisalat’s 2012 net profit was 6.74bn dirhams, up from 5.84bn dirhams in 2011.

The firm reported rising profits in the second and third quarters, with the latter period boosted by the $510mn sale of a 9.1% stake in Indonesian affiliate PT XL Axiata.

Fourth-quarter revenue was 8.48bn dirhams. This compares to 8.23bn dirhams a year ago.