MANAMA: The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development bank in which Bahrain owns 3 per cent stake, has recorded a net income of $99.6 million for the full year ended December 31, 2021, with its balance sheet growing by 1.3pc year-on-year to $8 billion by end-2021.
The performance marked a year of notable financial and operational achievements despite a backdrop of a reduction in reference rates and significant volatility in financial markets that persisted throughout the year.
Total comprehensive income for the year also reached just under $112.9m – up from $90.6m in 2020.
Apicorp’s corporate banking portfolio reached $4.6bn, representing a 19pc YoY increase.
This was partly due to the corporation having actively sought to disburse its $500m countercyclical support package to its member countries and strategic partners, which was launched in 2020 to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and oil price fluctuations.
Moreover, the corporation increased its capital adequacy from 31pc in 2020 to 32pc and reduced its key leverage ratio from 2.2x to 2.1x in 2021.
Return on assets and return on equity at year-end were 1.3pc and 3.9pc, respectively, while non-performing loans fell from 0.59pc to 0.55pc over the period.
Notably, it also retained its ‘Aa2’ credit rating from Moody’s and ‘AA’ credit rating from Fitch during the year.
Commenting on the results, Dr Aabed Al Saadoun, chairman of Apicorp, said: “Apicorp has consistently delivered improvements in its balance sheet over recent years, and 2021 was no exception.
It is a testament to the corporation’s structural and strategic resilience that it delivered exceptional growth in corporate banking in a year marred by global economic uncertainty. It was also a year that saw the corporation lead the energy transition through the issuance of green bonds and an ESG framework that is transforming the very nature of our region’s energy landscape.”
A notable achievement for Apicorp in 2021 was its successful debut green bond issuance in September, which came on the heels of a significant uptick in its green portfolio which increased by witnessed a five-fold increase over the past 5 years – approximately $600m.
The benchmark $750m green bond was nearly three times oversubscribed, garnering $2.2bn in orders from more than 80 institutional and sovereign investors, 63pc of whom were strictly ESG-focused investors. Moreover, the green bond issuance recorded the lowest-ever interest rate for an Apicorp benchmark issuance.
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