Al Baraka Group has achieved a significant leap in its financial performance during the last three months of 2024 and for the year as a whole, compared to 2023.
Despite a challenging business environment, the group managed to achieve a remarkable surge in net income attributable to the shareholders of the parent company, which increased by 92 per cent to $33 million in the last quarter of 2024, compared to $17m during the same period in 2023.
The basic earnings per share stood at 2.03 cents in Q4 2024, compared to 0.71 cents for the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile, the group reported a decline in total comprehensive income attributable to the shareholders of the parent company for Q4 2024, which dropped by 68pc to $7m compared to $22m for the same period in 2023.
This decrease was primarily due to a higher negative foreign currency translation reserve in 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
Additionally, the group achieved a significant increase in total net income for the last three months of 2024, recording 80pc growth to reach $66m, compared to $37m for the same period in 2023.
The total comprehensive income attributable to the shareholders of the parent company for 2024 jumped by 49pc to $47m, compared to $31m in 2023.
This increase was primarily driven by higher net income resulting from increased revenues from financing and investment income sources in 2024 compared to 2023.
This significant improvement in the group’s performance reflects the strong growth of its business, with a focus on increasing high-quality assets, diversifying financing and investment products, and deposits, as well as maximising returns from these products and assets.
The group’s financial results for 2024 demonstrated a noticeable increase in business volume and income, highlighting its ability to successfully navigate regional and global economic and financial developments.
This success is attributed to the extensive expertise of the group’s subsidiaries in their local markets, which have developed a strong ability to manage market fluctuations, particularly currency volatility, rising interest rates, inflation, intense competition, and rapid technological transformations.
The group has achieved this by implementing necessary precautions and strategies while maintaining steady financial performance.
Net income attributable to shareholders grew by 10pc to $157m in 2024, compared to $144m in 2023, driven by higher income from financing and investment activities. The basic earnings per share reached 10.09 cents in 2024, compared to 8.94 cents in 2023.
Total net income for the group increased by 9pc in 2024 to $309m, the highest in the group’s history, compared to $283m in 2023, for the same reasons mentioned earlier.
However, the increase in financing costs during most of the year impacted on total operating income and limited the growth in net income.
These results highlight the quality and efficiency of the group’s income sources, supported by strategies aimed at maximising returns, expanding fee-based income, diversifying financing and investment deposit products, and implementing sustained growth strategies despite a volatile business environment.
The total equity attributable to the parent company’s shareholders and sukuk holders amounted to $1.24 billion by end-2024, reflecting a slight decrease of 1pc compared to $1.25bn as of end-2023, due primarily to higher foreign currency translation reserves.
Meanwhile, total equity reached $2bn as of end-2024, marking an increase of 1pc compared to $1.97bn as of end-2023.
The group’s total assets grew by 4pc to $26.19bn as of end-2024, compared to $25.26bn as of end-2023. This growth was driven by an increase in the group’s operational activities.
Commenting on the results, chairman Shaikh Abdullah Saleh Kamel said: “The group and its banking units faced highly complex conditions in 2024, which created significant uncertainty in our business environment. We had to tackle a dual challenge: maintaining our financial stability while also ensuring strong returns.
“Thanks to our strategic business initiatives, we successfully met this challenge and delivered strong financial and profitability results. We also focused on enhancing fee-based income, diversifying our product mix, particularly in financing, retail banking, and investment deposits.
“Additionally, we supported risk management measures and financing policies to various business sectors to safeguard our portfolios while ensuring the protection of the local communities in which we operate, as part of our ethical responsibility towards them.”
The bank’s board member and group chief executive Houssem Ben Haj Amor added: “The geopolitical and economic developments over the past year presented multiple challenges for our business environment, particularly the rising cost of financing and operations due to persistently high funding costs, increasing inflation rates, and currency depreciation. Additionally, some of our subsidiaries experienced business slowdowns due to local economic pressures.
In the face of all these challenges, and leveraging our extensive experience in the markets we operate in, we successfully developed business strategies capable of absorbing and efficiently managing these challenges, thus ensuring strong returns that reaffirm the resilience of our income sources. This is clearly reflected in the diverse components of our income statement and balance sheet.”
He further added: “We have particularly succeeded in utilising our extensive geographic presence, alongside our banking expertise to introduce innovative products that enhance our competitiveness. Among these products is the ‘Trade Finance Platform’, which enables exporters and importers who are clients of Al Baraka banks’ across different countries to connect and collaborate.
“Additionally, we launched the ‘Borderless Banking’ initiative, enabling Al Baraka customers to open bank accounts in other countries within our banking network. We started this initiative through collaboration between Al Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain and Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, reflecting the strength of the international partnership between our subsidiaries.”
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