ABK posts operating profit of KD 44.2 mln in H1

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KUWAIT CITY, July 28: Keeping pace with Q1 2016, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) announced an operating profit of KD 44.2 million in the first half of 2016 compared to KD 42.9 million for the corresponding period in 2015, climbing 3% while sustaining a positive outlook for the Bank in the second half of the year. This is as a result of the Bank’s expansion strategy into Egypt and continued growth momentum.

This outstanding performance was recently recognized by Euromoney for the ‘Best Bank Transformation in the Middle East’ based on ABK’s ‘Simpler Banking’ strategy, and by The Banker, an FT affiliate, for the ‘Deal of the Year’ for the acquisition of Piraeus Bank Egypt. Net Profit dropped by 26.3 % which reflects strategic management actions under challenging market conditions by taking aggressive precautionary reserves. Commenting on the results, Mr Talal Mohammed Reza Behbehani, Chairman of Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, said, “We have recorded an overall positive performance with increased operating profits at 3 per cent yearon- year, which we are confident will continue in the future. We have also witnessed an increase of 45.3% in customer deposits year-on-year.

The successful execution of our strategy and aggressive precautionary management measures taken are also a strong indication that the Bank is moving in the right direction and the Board has high expectations of improved financial performance for the year.” ABK received a number of additional awards reconfirming the Bank’s performance, including: ‘Bank of the Year’ by Arabian Business Magazine, ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ by Asian Banker, ‘Best Commercial Bank’ by Banker Middle East, ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ by The European-a Thomson Reuter Affiliate and ‘Employer of the Year’ award from Naseba. Chief Executive, Michel Accad was also recognized as ‘Banker of the Year’ by Banker Middle East. With the customer being at the forefront of the Bank’s activities, Michel Accad, Chief Executive Officer at Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, said: “We have taken confident steps to position the bank to face the current economic situation. We are now focused on ensuring we meet the needs of our customers by further improving our digital services, which will make banking a much safer, convenient and faster process.

In addition, we are enhancing our banks in Kuwait, UAE and Egypt, where the name change approval has recently been granted and the rebranding process will begin.” In its drive to make banking simple, ABK has implemented numerous plans this year, including the ‘Double Your Salary’ campaign, which is a program that seeks to reward customers who transfer their salaries to the bank. In addition, ABK has evolved on a digital front with enhancements made in Touch ID on Mobile Banking, Caller ID recognition in the Contact Centre, Online Utility Bill Payments and Priority Queuing in the Contact Centre for VIP customers and International Callers.

Further maximizing the bank’s reach across Kuwait with the expansion of the Banks Offsite ATM fleet by an increase of 25%, ABK is also focused on becoming more accessible to customers. It was also recently certified in the two newest Visa Innovative payment solutions; ‘Verified by Visa’ for enhanced online security and ‘PayWave’ tap-and-go payment functionality. For more information about ABK please visit eahli.com or contact an ABK customer service agent via ‘Ahlan Ahli’ at 1899899.

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