Shamil Bank, a leading Bahrain-based Islamic commercial and investment bank and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank, announced today that it had exceeded its first quarter target and reported net profits of $5.9 million for the period ended 31March 2009.

Mohamed Abdulla Abdulaziz Al-Angari Chairman

The announcement, made by Shamil Bank Chairman Sheikh Mohamed Abdulla Abdulaziz Al-Angari, follows the review and approval, by the Board of the Directors on 11 May 2009, of the Bank’s financial results for the first quarter of the year.

“In view of the ongoing global financial crisis, we had set our self a very conservative budget for the first quarter of the year – and I am pleased to report, on behalf of the Board of Directors, that we exceeded expectations,” said Sheikh Al-Angari. “In addition to reporting $5.9 million in profits, during the first quarter of the year, Shamil Bank was also able to increase total assets by $358 million, from $2.9 billion at 31 December 2008, to $3.2 billion as at 31 March 2009,” he said.

Shamil Bank Chief Executive, Faisal Alalwan, said: “Islamic retail and corporate assets also increased by $43 million, or about four percent, from $1.048 billion as at 31 December 2008 to $1.091 billion as at 31 March 2009.”

“During the same period, Shamil Bank further enhanced its liquidity, and placements with banks have increased from $1.043 billion, as at 31 December 2008, to $1.439 billion as at 31 March 2009,” he said.

Alalwan attributed much of Shamil Bank’s first quarter success to the introduction, during the second half of last year, of a new business line, international banking.

Faisal Mansoor Al-Alwan Chief Executive

“The introduction of international banking has opened up tremendous new opportunities with particularly low risk clients and an emphasis on trade finance related activities,” said Alawlan. “These include the support and finance of credit documents, issuing guarantee letters for contractors and financing projects,” he said.

“These achievements, measured against the current financial backdrop, are particularly impressive,” said Al-Angari. “They clearly illustrate Shamil Bank’s ability to protect its balance sheet against the continuing turbulence of the global financial markets,” he said.

Last year, Shamil Bank had reported a $24.4 million profit for the first quarter, which included two, large, one-off investment banking-related deals. This year, Shamil Bank’s Retail and Corporate banking operations continued to improve their overall contributions to Bank’s financial performance.