Bank's profit from operations amount to KD 32.2m, an increase of 6.3%

KUWAIT: Ahli United Bank K.S.C.P announced a net profit for the first half of 2019 amounting to KD 30.8 million, compared to KD 29 million for the same period in the previous year, with a growth of 6.2 percent.
The bank's profit from operations amounted to KD 32.2 million, having grown by 6.3 percent over the profit from operations of KD 30.3 million in the same period in the previous year. Total assets reached KD 4 billion as at 30 June 2019 compared to KD 3.7 billion as at 30 June 2018 (Y-o-Y growth of 8.1 percent). Financing receivables increased by 5.8 percent to KD 2.90 billion as at 30 June 2019 compared to KD 2.74 billion and customer deposits increased by 5 percent to KD 2.50 billion compared to KD 2.38 billion, as at previous period last year. Further shareholders' equity increased by 4.6 percent to KD 432.1 million as at 30 June 2019 compared to KD 413.2 million as at previous period last year.

In addition to the foregoing achievements, the Bank maintained a good capital adequacy ratio of 15.3 percent as at 30 June 2019 which is higher than the level required by the supervision authorities, thereby increasing the opportunities of future expansion in credit facilities and operations.
The bank achieved good returns on equity and assets at 14.3 percent and 1.54 percent respectively for the first half of 2019, both of which are among the highest in the market, leading to the earnings per share rising from 14.7 fills in the previous year to 15.7 fills this year. Despite the assets growth, the bank continued to maintain the high quality of its assets whereby assets quality metrics remained strong of Non-performing finance (NPF) ratio of 1.23 percent of the total finance books with provision coverage ratio of 256.1 percent excluding collaterals.
Commenting on these results, the Chairman of Ahli United Bank, Dr Anwar Ali Al-Mudhaf, said that the positive indicators that accompanied the bank's performance during the first half of the year are the result of the continuous efforts made by all business sectors in the Bank. This remarkable performance enhances the Bank's reputation and solidifies its position within the Kuwaiti banking sector as the first bank operating in Kuwait, now for more than 77 years. It also reflects our successful business strategy and plans to diversify sources of income, maximize shareholder returns, and supporting our customers in achieving their aspirations.

In Al-Mudhaf's words: "Ahli United Bank maintained positive valuations and ratings by international rating agencies and gained numerous prestigious prizes from the world's foremost entities specialized in monitoring the performance of banks and financial institutions. These achievements are a strong indicator of the Bank's business strategy and sound performance."

Dr Al-Mudhaf expressed his pride that the Bank recently won the 'the Best Business IT Innovation - Banking - Kuwait 2019" award from the International Finance Magazine (IFM)", a world-class recognized magazine specialized in Banking and Finance based in London, UK. This award can be attributed to the several achievements and success made by the Information Technology of AUB, the Bank is continuingly striving to discover new, more efficient ways to deliver services that go beyond contemporary banking systems and business models. Al-Mudhaf referred to the role of AUB's sustained social development program which continued to focus on support Kuwait's youth and environment. These efforts continue to deepened Ahli United Bank's positive impact on society.

Dr Anwar Al-Mudhaf pleased with the progress Ahli United Bank has made in implementing digital initiatives. Specific mention is made on the success deployment of Robotics in process automation. This has supported the removal of repetitive tasks, reduces operating risks whilst allowing our staff to focus on more value added services. Such technologies, including Artificial Intelligence is supporting the progress of our Bank".

Dr Anwar Al-Mudhaf expressed thanks and appreciation for the Bank's shareholders and customers for their committed support to and deep trust in the Bank. He also expressed appreciation to the Central Bank of Kuwait, and all supervision authorities and lauded the efforts of the bank's executive management and all its employees that enable the Bank to achieve that success.

AUB acting Chief Executive Officer Tareq Muhmood said: "We continue doing our best to achieve more successes during 2019. We are very proud and pleased with the new services we offer to our customers, which is part of our journey of digital transformation. This helps in maintaining our reputation as a pioneer financial institution through a number of steps including the launch of Video Chat Room Service at the Avenues Branch, providing customers a privacy space for video chatting with customer service staff. The Bank also provided several new updates to its outstanding Mobile Banking Application, providing its customers unparalleled exclusive features in terms of convenience, speed, security and the ability to meet and exceed customers' expectations in the digital era. Tareq Muhmood added "With the excellent team at Ahli United Bank, we expect to see more progress over the coming months".