(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Al Rayan Bank, formerly known as Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), yesterday announced its strongest financial performance to date, resulting in the Bank more than doubling its operating income and posting its first profit since its inception in 2004.
The bank's operating income increased 168 percent to £11.8m in 2014 from£4.4m in 2013. The bank saw 86 percent increase in total customer financing, to £450.3m. Retail deposits increased 59 percent to £509.8m and while wholesale deposits increased 53 percent to £31.7m.
Commenting on Al Rayan Bank's performance, Robert Sharpe, the Bank's newly appointed Chairman said, "The financial year 2014 has been a momentous one in the Bank's history and has laid the foundations for a prosperous future. The £75m additional investment from Masraf Al Rayan was a transformational event, the first results of which we have proudly announced today. The Board believes that stakeholders in the Bank including shareholders, customers and employees have good reason to be optimistic about its future prospects. This is based on Al Rayan Bank having a clear and balanced strategy to increase assets, liabilities and shareholder value, having a strong risk culture and a regulatory capital position that is well above the regulatory requirement."
Sultan Choudhury, Chief Executive Officer, Al Rayan Bank, added, "Increasing consumer confidence, the continued strength of the housing market and opportunities to provide property finance to the commercial sector as well as to investors in the Gulf has enabled Al Rayan Bank to post its best results to date. This has all been underpinned by the strong financial and strategic support of the parent company, Masraf Al Rayan. We look forward to even better results in 2015."
Al Rayan Bank's achievements follow its acquisition by Masraf Al Rayan (MAR) in early 2014. This was accompanied by a £75m additional investment by MAR and the implementation of a number of strategic initiatives in order to help the Bank achieve sustained profitability. Al Rayan Bank received formal shareholder approval, in December 2014, for a change to its name and brand, in line with its new parent company. MAR has an extremely strong brand presence in Qatar and the GCC and the name change will help to align Al Rayan Bank more closely with its parent, both internally and externally. It will also enable the Bank to grow both nationally and internationally by creating a unified brand for the Group.
Al Rayan Bank opened its doors in 2004 as the UK's first wholly, Sharia compliant retail bank. The Bank currently has over 50,000 retail, business and premier customers and has earned a reputation for providing innovative products which appeal to people of any faith.
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