GFH Financial Group, an investment bank based in Bahrain, reported a 41.4 per cent slide in its first-quarter net profit as income from its commercial banking arm fell.
The profit attributable to company's shareholders at the end of March declined to $21.36 million (Dh78.46m), GFH said in a bourse filing to Bahrain Bourse, where its shares trade. The group's consolidated net profit for the reporting period slipped to $20.7m, 43.9 per cent down from a year earlier.
“The decrease in net profits is attributed primarily due to lower contribution from the group’s commercial banking arm and extended closure of investment funds, which are expected to realise during second quarter,” the company said.
Finance costs for the investment bank increased to $23.7m in the first three months of 2019, from $7.17m, primarily due to the additional money market funds raised by the GFH Group as part of its new treasury strategy. Operating expenses for the period, however, remained flat at $21.43m, it said.
Total assets of the group increased from $4.99 billion at the year-end 2018 to $5.91bn as on March 31, an increase of 18.4 per cent. Liabilities of the company also grew to $4.5bn from $3.57bn during the period, primarily due to additional money market activities. Earnings per share for the first quarter of 2019 came in at 0.61 cents compared to 1.02 cents in the comparative prior-year period, GFH said.
The Sharia-compliant investment company in February reported a 9.5 per cent rise in the full-year 2018 profit driven by contribution from different business lines and strategic transactions during the year, which marked the fourth consecutive year of gains.
“Among the strongest measures of market confidence in GFH today and over the past year was the raising of more than $1bn through our investment products and treasury and capital markets during 2018, which fuels further growth and investment for GFH in 2019,” Jassim Alseddiqi, chairman of GFH, said at the time.
