(MENAFN – Khaleej Times) Gulf Finance House (GFH) net profit declined to 4.2 million for the first half of the year, compared to the 5.7 million recorded in the same period last year, according to an email statement.
Net profit for the second quarter was declared at 2.7 million, compared to the 4.7 million recorded for the second quarter of 2012. Total income for the second quarter was 13.4 million compared to a total income of 19.7 million for the second quarter of 2012.
Income was primarily generated from management fees from funds under management, investment income and recoveries. Operating costs for the half year period reduced by 27 per cent to 19.6 million, compared to 26.9 million for the prior year period, underlining ongoing efforts in the streamlining of operations and achieving greater efficiencies across the business.
Hisham Al Rayes, acting chief executive officer of GFH, said: “We are pleased to report another period of improving performance and profitability, which reflects our commitment to maintaining positive results. We continue to focus on the strengthening of the balance sheet and the realignment of projects for successful exits, which is allowing us today to establish the bank’s credit rating in the market. We believe that this will also further enhance market confidence in the bank and allow for better business making in the future.”
He added: “Furthermore, during the quarter we focused on building platforms to extract value from our existing assets. In this regard, we secured a number of strategic investors alongside GFH in Leeds United FC. We also saw progress on a number of our development projects and expect to see positive results later this year in particular in Bahrain and Tunis.”
“In addition to these activities,” Rayes revealed “we undertook due diligence on a number of opportunities during the past quarter that we expect will offer the bank and its clients secured income and low investment risk. We are confident that a stronger future is ahead and are determined to deliver higher returns for our investors and shareholders as we go forward.”