Chairman reports another strong year of growth for AUB in 2018

KUWAIT: Ahli United Bank B.S.C. yesterday held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at the Bank's headquarters in Seef District, Kingdom of Bahrain. The meetings were presided over by AUB's Chairman Meshal AbdulAziz Alothman and were attended by shareholders representing 74.6 percent of Bank's total issued shares.

The AUB AGM approved the distribution of a cash dividend of 20 percent ($5.0 cents per share), totaling $398.8 million, together with a bonus share issue of 10 percent (ten shares per 100 ordinary shares) to shareholders registered as at 28 March 2019.

AUB's shareholders also approved the repurchase by the Bank of its own shares up to a maximum of 10 percent of its issued shares in accordance with the terms and conditions set by the regulators.

At their EGM held on the same day, AUB's shareholders resolved to extend, for a further two years, their standing authorization for the Board of Directors to decide on the timing, pricing and other terms of the issuance of up to $4 billion in bonds, loans or other financial instruments, as necessary to support the growth plans of the Bank.

Reporting to the shareholders, AUB's Chairman Alothman said: "Despite the continuing challenges in our operating environment, I am pleased to report another strong year of growth for AUB in 2018, as we continued to prioritize our core businesses and build on our competitive strengths to attract customers, deposits and high quality assets. Our robust financial performance for the year reflected these strengths, with consolidated net profit up by 12.7 percent to a record level of $697.5 million on the back of very resilient and broad-based earnings momentum, which enables us today to propose an increase in shareholders' dividend to 20 percent in cash and 10 percent in bonus shares in respect of 2018".

"As we transition into 2019, the AUB Group will continue to implement its plans in a focused and committed manner with continued emphasis on meeting the needs of our clients and rewarding our shareholders", concluded Alothman.