Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) reported a 25% rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday, beating analysts’ forecasts.
The UAE’s third-largest lender by market value, posted a net profit of Dh917mn ($249.7mn) in the three months to June 30, it said in a statement. That compares with Dh733mn in the prior-year period, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Six analysts polled by Reuters had estimated an average second-quarter profit of Dh783.7mn for the second quarter.
ADCB said net profit for the first half of the year rose 17% to Dh1.82bn on the back of a strong rise in interest and non-interest income.
Batelco
Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) posted a 22% fall in net profit in the first half of the year weighed down by one-off expenses related to acquisitions and related financing, it said in a statement yesterday.
The former monopoly, which has reported declining profits in past several quarters, said first-half net profit fell to $71.6mn compared with $91.8mn for the same period last year.
“Profits for the period were impacted by a number of one off expenses associated with the acquisition and related financing,” Batelco said in the statement.
The operator, seeking to offset declining domestic profit and revenue, in April completed the $570mn purchase of Cable & Wireless Communications’ Monaco and Islands Division.
Batelco competes with units of Kuwait’s Zain and Saudi Telecom Co in Bahrain, while it also owns Jordanian telecoms operator Umniah, 27% of Yemeni mobile operator Sabafon, minority stakes in internet providers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and is also active in Egypt.
The telco said its board approved an interim dividend of 10 fils per share.
Investcorp
Bahrain-based alternative investment manager Investcorp reported a 56% rise in full-year net income yesterday, aided by strong growth in fee income.
Investcorp, which expects to fully invest its $1bn Gulf fund in 2013, made a net profit of $104.9mn in fiscal year 2013 ended in June, compared with $67.4mn in the previous year.
Profit growth was driven by “a very strong increase in deal activity fees”, Rishi Kapoor, Investcorp’s chief financial officer, told reporters.
Fee income at the company, which previously took luxury brands Gucci and Tiffany public, rose 40% to $329.5mn, Investcorp said at a news conference in Dubai.
Nawras
Omani Qatari Telecommunications Co, better known as Nawras, said its second-quarter net profit fell 23% on year as the telco paid a higher depreciation charge for network upgrades and margins suffered due to lower income from voice calls and text messages.
Nawras made a net profit of 7.5mn Omani rials ($19.5mn) in the quarter, down from OR9.7mn in the year before period, according to an emailed statement. Revenues for the second quarter were OR50.2mn, up 3.7% from OR48.4mn a year earlier.
“Growth in revenue was driven by increases in both fixed and mobile data offset by a decrease in SMS and national voice revenue,” Ross Cormack, chief executive of Nawras, said in the statement.
The telco’s mobile post-paid customer base grew 5.8% to 185,705 in the quarter, while pre-paid customers increased 13% to 2.05mn, compared with the same period last year, the company said. It added that its fixed customer base increased 54% to 56,598 customers in the quarter.
Kuwait Finance House
Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf state’s biggest Islamic lender, announced 103mn Kuwaiti dinar ($362mn) of “precautionary provisions” yesterday, as it posted a smaller than expected rise in second-quarter net profit.
The bank did not provide any more details on the provisions, which cover the first half of the year, nor a comparative figure for the same period the year before.
It added that indicators related to profit growth and operating revenues were positive.
Net profit rose to 26.8mn dinars in the three months ended June, KFH said in a bourse filing. That compared with analysts’ average forecast of 30.35mn dinars in a Reuters poll of four analysts.
The lender did not provide further details on its profit.
It said it would continue with its expansion plans after its 319mn dinar capital increase last month.
Byblos Bank
Lebanese lender Byblos Bank said its first-half net profit fell nearly 6% to $75.9mn amid what it described as economic stagnation in its home market and the Middle East as a whole.
Figures released by the bank showed it had more than doubled provisions for credit losses to $48.1mn in the first six months of 2013, compared with $23.1mn in the same period of last year.
Despite the economic uncertainty, the bank said total assets grew 3.2% in the first six months of the year to $17.6bn, while customer deposits rose by 5.1% to $14.1bn. Net customer loans were steady at $4.1bn.
Byblos remained highly liquid and said it was “overcoming economic stagnation in Lebanon and the region, as well as historically low global interest rates.”