Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan Islamic Bank ( JIB ) achieved profits before tax in an amount of US$ 105.4 million, compared with US$ 90.1 million in the previous year; with a growth of nearly 17%. Net profits after tax reached US$ 68.7 million compared to US$ 63.6 million in 2014; with a growth of 8%.

Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Chairman of JIB , President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) / Bahrain expressed how much comfortable he is with the results the bank achieved in 2015 which are compliant with the adopted plans and strategic policy, manage risks with high efficiency, maintain strong financial and credit position among banks in Jordan in addition to reap further international awards and ratings whose latest were reaffirming the Sharia Quality Rating AA (SQR) by Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) for the seventh year respectively and receiving the awards of best performing Islamic bank in Jordan and best performing Islamic bank-Levant from The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) for the year 2015 and other awards which assert the high performance efficiency of the executive management and staff of the bank and their interest in applying the commitment to sharia and credit quality standards according to governance principles to fulfill further accomplishments. He commended as well efforts of the CBJ, official organizations and institutions for supporting the Jordanian banking sector in general and Islamic banking industry in particular and contribution to develop them.

With regard to the key financial indicators, Mr. Musa Shihadeh, CEO - General Manager of JIB said that the increase the bank achieved in its profits is due to the continuous growth in its various financial indicators which reinforced its position in the Jordanian banking sector to achieve further accomplishments that serve national economy. However, the growth in total assets including ( restricted investment accounts, Muqarada bonds and investment by proxy ) reached around 8.2% amounting to about US$ 5.88 billion compared to about US$ 5.44 billion at the end of 2014 with an increase of about US$ 444 million.

The growth in facilities granted for customers including ( restricted investment accounts, Muqarada bonds and investment by proxy ) reached around 20% amounting to about US$ 4.44 billion compared to about US$ 3.71 billion at the end of 2014 with an increase of about US$ 739 million in an application of the retail and geographical diversification policy the bank adopts in the development of financings and investments provided for individuals , SMEs or corporate and achieve profitable returns.
Mr. Shihadeh indicated that the growth in clients' deposits ( including restricted investment accounts, Muqarada bonds and investment by proxy accounts) reached around 8% amounting to about US$ 5.29 billion compared to US$ 4.89 billion at the end of 2014 with an increase of about US$ 389.28 million, in affirmation of reinforcing the clients' trust of the bank and a reflection of its investment activities and providing developed banking services that are compliant with principles of Islamic Sharia.

Mr. Shihadeh stated that the growth in the volume of balance sheet is a reflection on the growth in the revenues which increased by 6.3% to reach US$ 282.5 million compared to US$ 265.73 million at the end of 2014 with an increase of about US$ 16.93 million.
Growth in joint investment profits before distribution reached about 6.6% at the end of 2015 to reach US$ 250.2 million compared to US$ 234.70 million at the end of 2014 with an increase of around US$ 15.51 million, which helped in reinforcing continuous profitability, improving operational performance strength and financial and investment activity of the bank.

Shareholders' equity reached about US$ 438.64 million compared to about US$ 397.74 million at end of 2014 with a growth of 10.3 %. The return on average equity (ROAE) after tax reached about 16.42%.

These results positively reflected on the performance indicators of the bank; Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) reached 21.11 % at end of 2015, return on assets average (ROAA) reached 1.33 % , the efficiency ratio reached 39.15%, the non- performing finance(NPF) reached 3.87% and their coverage ratio 106.9%.

During 2015, JIB was marked by its geographic expansion in all areas of the kingdom throughout 93 branches and cash offices, by opening new branches and offices or converting offices to branches supported by 170 ATMs.

Mr. Shihadeh emphasized the bank's interest in the continuation to expand its network of branches and offices to further achieve development and progress and provide innovative banking products and services to meet the needs of banking market and keep abreast of the latest technological developments in compliance with principles of Islamic sharia.

Furthermore, The Board of Directors has decided in its meeting convened on 9/2/2016 to recommend to the General Assembly that will hold its meeting on 27/4/2016 dividend distributions to shareholders for the year 2015 by 15% of the nominal value of shares." Noting that these results are preliminary and subject to the final approval of the Central Bank of Jordan."

About
Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national scale with a Stable outlook by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor's at BB+ (long term) / B (short term) with a Stable outlook. Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari'a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2 billion.

The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 611 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.