KUWAIT: Boubyan Bank held its Ordinary General Assembly Meeting which saw an attendance exceeding 78 percent, where its agenda was approved, including the distribution of cash dividends and bonus shares, in addition to the election of non-independent and independent directors for the upcoming term of the Board of Directors.
In his word during the meeting, the Chairman of Boubyan Bank, Abdulaziz Abdullah Dakheel Al-Shaya, emphasized that the Bank continued fulfilling its goals and reinforcing its position as a leading financial institution in the Islamic banking industry, acting as per "Boubyan 2028” strategy, which focuses on pursuing sustainable profitability while reinforcing digitalization, innovation, and resilience, being the key drivers of operational efficiency. This aims to instill the values of the strategy across the Group and to ensure growth across all fronts, including employees, customers, shareholders, and the community as a whole, in addition to boosting digital innovation and increasing the bank’s market share.
Al-Shaya added: "Boubyan does not only seek financial growth, but also seeks real influence on the local and regional economy to make a leap through investing in advanced Fin-Tech solutions, thus catering for customers’ expectations and keeping up with the ever-changing market requirements, in addition to reinforcing the potentials of working and cooperating with influencers in the financial sector and Islamic banking and development of human cadres and investment in human capital to attract the best talents, which contributes to the realization of the ambitious vision of the bank to be among the top Islamic banks worldwide.”
"We believe that a crystal-clear strategic vision is necessary for sustainable success, supported by solid bases for growth and development, in addition to working to reinforce the confidence of shareholders, activating strategic partnerships, and emphasizing sustainability principles and social responsibility for a more flourishing future for the bank, its customers, and strategic partners”, he added.
Solid financial performance and sustained growth
Al-Shaya went on to add: "The bank had outstanding financial results in 2024 as it recorded KD 96.8 million in net profits, at a growth rate of 20 percent, compared with 2023, while the earnings per share amount to 21.6 fils.” Moreover, the General Assembly Meeting approved the distribution of 10 fils per share in cash dividends, in addition to 5 percent in bonus shares, reflecting the bank’s solid financial performance.
He added: "Boubyan Bank maintained a balanced growth across its various financial indicators, where the bank’s total assets grew to KD 9.4 billion at a growth rate of 12 percent compared with last year, while the bank’s financing portfolio grew by 10 percent to KD 6.9 billion, and operating income grew by 13 percent to KD 246 million; meanwhile, the bank’s market share of local financing increased to 12 percent, reflecting the success of the bank’s expansion strategy.”
International leadership in Islamic banking industry
"The bank is now the third largest bank domestically, and it has been included in Forbes’ annual list for Middle East Top 100 Listed Companies 2024 with $27.3 billion in total assets and a market value of $8.3 billion, and is also ranked 49th on a similar list by MEED”, Al-Shaya elaborated.
He pointed out that the policies aiming at increasing the bank’s business base and setting future directions largely contributed to reinforcing sustained growth, boosting digital innovation, and adoption of a cutting-edge and integrated banking model combining both traditional solutions and modern digital banking solutions, which contributed to operational growth and reinforced the bank’s position as a leading international Islamic banking institution.
Election of independent directors
The General Assembly held the elections for the membership of the Board of Directors to elect non-independent directors. The following have been elected as members of the Board of Directors for the upcoming 3-year term (2025-2026-2027):
1. Abdulaziz Abdullah Dakheel Al-Shaya - non-executive
2.Adel Abdul Wahab Jassim Al-Majed - executive
3.Hazim Ali Meshari Al-Hilal Al-Mutairi - non-executive
4.Waleed Mishari Al-Hamad - non-executive
5.Mohammed Yousef Ahmed Al-Saqer - non-executive
6.Fahad Ahmad Al-Fouzan - non-executive
7.Waleed Khaled Al-Yaqout - non-executive
Moreover, new independent directors have been selected out of seven independent candidates. The following four independent candidates have been selected as members of the Bank’s Board of Directors for the upcoming 3-year term (2025-2026-2027):
8.Khalid Ahmad Saud Al-Mudhaf
9.Abdullah Saud Bader Al-Yousif Al-Bader
10.Dr Amani Khaled Boresli
11.Rabah Adulrahman Al-Rabah
Reinforcing digital transformation & innovation
Boubyan Bank’s Vice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer, Adel Al-Majed, highlighted that the bank was moving steadily towards a more advanced and a more innovative banking future, thanks to the adoption of cutting-edge digital transformation technology and investment in technology infrastructure, which enabled the bank to improve the quality of its banking services and boost the efficiency of operational processes.
Al-Majed added: "The future of banking relies on digital innovation, and Boubyan has always been at the forefront of all banks that embraced this vision. Over the past years, we managed to make great leaps in our digital services, thus boosting our ability to meet the expectations of our customers and keep up with the accelerating transformations in the international banking industry.”
"During 2024, Nomo Bank, the digital arm of the Bank of London and the Middle East "BLME”, a subsidiary of Boubyan Bank Group, continued its expansion journey, while focusing on meeting the international banking and investment needs of customers. Nomo succeeded in attracting a wide segment of customers seeking integrated digital banking solutions internationally, and the bank continues to invest in innovation and sustainability by introducing state-of-the-art digital solutions that enhance customer experience, increase the efficiency of operations, and increase security and reliability levels of banking services”, he elaborated.
Subsidiaries’ expansion strategy
Al-Majed pointed out: "Boubyan’s subsidiaries (Boubyan Capital, Boubyan Takaful, and The Bank of London and the Middle East "BLME”) managed to reinforce their presence and develop their strategic plans that focused on increased investments and profitability growth, which contributed to integrating the efforts of Boubyan Group and reinforcing its expansion into various markets.”
Sustainability and governance ... ongoing commitment
Al-Majed emphasized that Boubyan Bank attached great importance to ESG standards and to the development of business strategies, aiming to strike a sustained balance between financial performance and social responsibility, in addition to achieving a sustained financial growth in line with the best international standards.
Thanks and appreciation
Al-Shaya concluded his word in the General Assembly Meeting: "For myself and on behalf of all the employees of Boubyan Bank, I would like to express deepest thanks and appreciation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, may Allah protect him as well as to HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Crown Prince, may Allah protect him, and HH Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister, may Allah protect him, for their efforts towards the development and growth of our beloved country, and to guarantee the stability and security of everyone who considers this blessed land home, as well as their ongoing support to the banking sector.”
He added: "I would also like to express the deepest thanks to all the executives of the Central Bank of Kuwait, headed by Governor Basel Al-Haroon, who spared no effort to take the actions deemed appropriate to develop and safeguard the Kuwaiti banking system. I would also like to express deepest thanks to all the bank’s esteemed shareholders and customers for their ongoing confidence, as they have always been the key factor behind our success by supporting us in overcoming our challenges.
Moreover, I would like to thank all members of the Sharia Supervisory Board at the bank for their great efforts, and I would like to thank the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Management, as well as all the bank’s employees for their cooperation, commitment, and keenness on supporting the bank for the best interest of the bank and its shareholders.”
Adel Al-Majed
•Digital transformation and sustainability are the cornerstone of Boubyan’s promising future
•Steadily moving with our strategic approach to maintain solid profitability and ongoing growth, and to reinforce investment in innovation
Abdulaziz Abdullah Al-Shaya
•‘Boubyan 2028’ strategy focuses on pursuing sustainable profitability while reinforcing digitalization
•Achieving sustainability requires a well-studied strategy and solid foundations for growth and improvement
•Entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs represent a very important segment of Boubyan Bank’s customers, being the first bank of choice for the youths. Boubyan has a unique set of digital banking solutions that support and empower entrepreneurs to achieve their future financial goals, while opening up new growth opportunities and horizons to develop their entrepreneurship, enhance their operational efficiency, and expand the scope of their services to meet the requirements of the job market in Kuwait and the region, in addition to considering them key partners in all innovative solutions and products offered by Boubyan.
•Boubyan Bank innovated a unique model to promote the value of developing leadership skills and forging leaders with exceptionally unique competencies that perfectly aligns with the strategy of developing leaders and promoting the creativity and innovation culture among employees, which comes in handy especially with the young expertise and competent cadres available at Boubyan across various levels. The bank further dedicates all necessary resources to the learning, growth, and development of its human cadres.
On another note, the score of the Organizational Health Index survey "OHI” taken by all Group employees improved to 86 percent, while the total staff participation across the bank and its subsidiaries increased to 89 percent, placing the bank among the top three institutions regionally, and at the top decile of all prestigious institutions that took part in this survey globally.
•Boubyan Bank’s Ordinary General Assembly meeting saw an attendance exceeding 78%
•Dr Amani Boresli, Rabah Al-Rabah elected as new independent directors