MANAMA: The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development bank in which Bahrain owns three per cent stake, has posted a three per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net income for the year ended December 31, 2020 despite the fallout of the unprecedented coronavirus (Covid-19) global crisis – from $112 million in 2019 to $115m in 2020.
The key drivers include a 6pc YoY growth in corporate banking portfolio to $3.9 billion, as well as a 13pc YoY growth in its treasury and capital markets portfolio, which also netted $46m in capital gains, a 488pc increase from the prior year.
Moreover, the corporation’s balance sheet increased from $7.34bn to $7.89bn in 2020, a 7.5pc YoY uptick which is higher than the 5pc CAGR recorded over the past five years.
Improvement
Key financial and risk metrics also continued their steady improvement, as the corporation recorded its highest ever liquidity ratio at 349pc and increased its capital adequacy ratio to 31pc (+1pc YoY) as well as reducing its leverage level from 2.5x in June 2020 to 2.23x in December 2020.
Commenting on the results, chairman Dr Aabed Al Saadoun said: “The strong 2020 financial results despite the uncertain economic landscape that clouded most of the year illustrates Apicorp’s exceptional resilience. As the region, and indeed the world, begins to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are confident that we will continue to ably support the Mena energy sector, including the proactive advancement of the energy transition agenda.”
Apicorp chief executive Dr Ahmed Ali Attiga said: “In line with our development mandate, we aim to focus on supporting the growth of the private sector – particularly in the clean and renewable energy space – to accelerate the energy transition and build a more sustainable future for the Arab region.”
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