Bahrain’s GFH reports nearly 87% surge in 2021 net profit

Company’s business units perform strongly despite Covid-19 challenges

Bahrain's GFH Financial Group said its total assets grew 22.72 per cent to reach $8.08 billion at the end of last year. Philip Cheung / The National

GFH Financial Group, an investment bank based in Bahrain, reported an 86.77 per cent surge in its 2021 profit as the company’s business units performed strongly despite Covid-19 headwinds.

Net profit attributable to the shareholders of the bank for the full year climbed to $84.22 million, the company said on Wednesday, reflecting “stronger contributions throughout the year from all business lines including investment banking, commercial banking, real estate and treasury activities".

“Despite the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world, we were able to improve income, strengthen profitability and once again deliver a healthy dividend for our shareholders,” Jassim Alseddiqi, chairman of GFH said.

Listed on the Bahrain Bourse, Dubai Financial Market and Boursa Kuwait, GFH has an investment portfolio that spans the Middle East, the US, the UK and Asia in a number of sectors including health care, education and logistics.

Last month, GFH formed a new subsidiary, Infracorp, by spinning off its infrastructure and property assets to focus more on financial assets.

Infracorp will manage an asset portfolio worth about $3 billion, which includes land in the Gulf, North Africa and South Asia.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, GFH's net profit rose 8.92 per cent annually to $23.88m as a result of “strong continued performance across the group’s core business lines and significant contributions from its investment banking business”, it said.

Total assets of the group grew 22.72 per cent to reach $8.08bn at the end of last year.

GFH also closed more than $1bn worth of new investments across the region in the international logistics, healthcare and education sectors in 2021, said Hisham Alrayes, group chief executive of GFH.

These included investments in a FedEx logistics site in the US and a multi-speciality healthcare provider in the UAE. It also signed a partnership with Schroders Capital to co-invest in select private equity and venture capital deals in Europe and the Americas.

“This allowed us to increase our total assets and assets under management to $15bn for 2021,” he said.

The company’s board has recommended a total cash dividend of $60m, subject to regulatory approval.

“With solid foundations in place, we look forward to stronger performance and results in 2022,” Mr Alrayes added.