BBK Bahrain: Financial Performance and Outlook

At the end of September 2012 the BBK’s balance sheet grew remarkably to 7.1 Billion BD, an increase of 9.1% when compared to September 30, 2011.  Abdul Karim Ahmed Bucheery, Chief Executive of BBK Bahrain and Chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks, discusses the bank’s financial performance.

He states: “To start with, the year-end numbers for 2012 were even better than the September 2012 number that you just quoted. The balance sheet size has crossed the 8 billion US$ mark and year-on-year we have grown by roughly 12%.”

Furthermore, BBK’s strategy is to look outside Bahrain in search of the profits. “The reason is that we did not stick to the local market because the local market, whether we have problems or not, is small and there are too many banks in the country; therefore we looked beyond the borders of Bahrain. We have been very active in the neighboring markets such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman where we have no local presence. Of course we have local presence in Kuwait and the UAE but adding to the businesses we generated from these places, we have also been very active in other markets such as Saudi Arabia which is a large market. It also provides opportunities to book loans and investment and grow our balance sheet,” concludes Bucheery.