Bahrain NBB Posts Growth Despite Downturn

Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and a challenging regional environment, National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) achieved realistic growth last year.That was the message from deputy chairman Farouk Almoayyed to shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting yesterday.

"The strategy during the year was to focus on increasing business in the domestic market resulting in increased earnings from growth in core banking businesses," he said. "The results reflect improvement in earnings while efficiently managing operating expenses. "Accordingly, the results reflect a net profit of US$113.57 million in 2009 compared to the figure in 2008, an increase of 23.3%," he added.

"The bank's strategy of positioning its balance sheet to focus on core commercial banking activities has been rewarding over the years," said chief executive officer Abdul Razak Al Qassim. "The NBB has stayed focused on the basics of banking and by sticking to its values and culture, has shown resilience throughout this difficult period and proved its ability to consistently meet its strategic priorities." He said the bank tactically shifted focus to the domestic economy to support growth. As a result, the bank's main businesses performed well and delivered sustainable increases in underlying operating revenue. "The results reflect improvement in credit spread, success of mobilising core cost-effective deposits and revenue diversification while efficiently managing operating expenses," he said. "The bank's focus will be on core commercial banking activities in the active sectors of the domestic economy and improving market share. - Gulf Daily News