Islamic bank Al Baraka H1 profit falls 22 pct even as Q2 recovers from first quarter slowdown

Al Baraka Banking Group posted a drop of 22 per cent in net income for the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2018.

The Bahrain-headquartered Group’s H1 net income fell to $95 million compared to $122 million for H1 2018, it said in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

Its total operating income for H1 was $442 million, a 14 per cent drop versus $512 million for the same period last year.

Al Baraka’s assets grew 2 per cent to $24.2 billion from $23.8 billion at the end of 2018.

The Group's results for the first half of 2019 was partially affected by the decrease in its results during the first quarter of the year, said the bank in a statement.

Q1 net profit fell 28 per cent year-on-year amid a slowdown in some of the countries the Group operates, including Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia and Sudan.

Its second quarter performance was a “significant improvement” due to growth in financing and investment operations, it said.

Q2 net income increased by 31 per cent to $54 million compared to Q1.

The Group currently operates in 17 countries and added to its branch network in H1.

“The Group's units have continued their careful and well-planned expansion programs, where the number of new branches opened by these units has reached 5 branches during the first half of 2019, bringing the total number of branches to 702 at the end of June 2019,” said president and chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif.

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