Chairman & Managing Director of Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Abdulmajeed AlShatti reports that “Following several transactions Commercial Bank now holds 20.17% of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK)”.
“We have a regional expansion strategy for the G.C.C. and Middle East and believe that there are great opportunities for synergies between CBK and BBK. Both banks are major players in their respective domestic markets. Bahrain is an established financial centre”.
Abdulmajeed AlShatti further commented “Commercial Bank has started 2006 very strongly with record profits for the quarter and we expect to maintain this superior performance. With a return on average assets of 3.9% and a return on average equity of 30.6% for the first quarter these results are excellent by local and international standards. Earnings per share of 23 fils per share for the period are 11% ahead of the 20.7 fils per share of 2005”.
“The Bank earlier announced record profits for 2005 of KD 81.2 million, the highest in its 45 year history representing an increase of 30% on 2004. Earnings per share of 83 fils were 40% higher than 2004 and the Bank distributed a 70% cash dividend, which was 40% higher than the 50% distributed for 2004”.
Chairman and Managing Director Abdulmajeed AlShatti further explained the excellent first quarter 2006 results; “Leveraging our strong commercial position and in particular our retail banking franchise, operating income from core business lines is up 30.5% on 2005. Net interest income is 38% ahead, fees and commissions are up 11% and gains from dealing in foreign currencies up 27%. With a 5% increase in operating expenses the Bank has reported a very efficient cost to income ratio of 15.5%”. Commercial Bank’s total assets reached KD 2.5 billion at the end of March 2006 and its shareholders equity stood at KD 316 million.
Commercial Bank’s efforts have also been recognised by international credit rating agencies with Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Capital Intelligence all raising the Financial Strength ratings. Moody’s reporting capital strength and provisioning levels that provide comfort, Standard and Poor’s noting a strong and improving financial profile a solid commercial position and franchise and a good presence in retail banking. Capital Intelligence noted strong capital ratios, good asset quality and excellent profitability with Fitch Ratings reporting that Commercial Bank is a top tier Kuwaiti bank in terms of profitability with healthy underlying asset quality and minimal exposure to market risk.
With 44 branches Commercial Bank of Kuwait operates the second largest full service network in Kuwait. For 24/7 information on Commercial Bank of Kuwait products or services contact 888CBK.
