Alizz Islamic Bank holds its fifth AGM

01/04/2018 09:07 AST

Alizz Islamic Bank, held its fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2017 on Thursday (29 March 2018), at the Crowne Plaza Muscat. The meeting was chaired by His Highness Al Sayyid Taimur Bin Asa'd Al Said, the Chairman of Alizz Islamic Bank and attended by the board members, senior management of the bank and the shareholders. The AGM was also attended by the Sharia Supervisory Board members including its Chairman Sheikh Dr Mohamed Abdul Raheem Sultan Al Ulamaa.

During the meeting, the Board of Directors presented the Bank's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, which were reviewed and approved. In addition, the Sharia Supervisory Board presented their annual report to illustrate the extent of the bank's compliance with the Sharia rules and principles and with the Fatwa and resolutions of the Board. Related parties transactions during 2017 and expected transactions during 2018 were also presented in the AGM which were duly approved by the shareholders.

Commenting on the financial performance, the chairman said that 2017 marked a successful year for the bank as we achieved a quarterly net profit of OMR154.000 for the first time since its inception during the fourth quarter of the year. The bank witnessed solid growth in all core business areas while maintaining the quality of its assets.

"The bank expanded its distribution network by opening three branches during the year and also enhanced its digital capabilities. Being recognised as an innovative bank, we continued to introduce unique products and services for its ever growing customer base. We expect to build on these capabilities in 2018, and leverage our growing distribution net worth and reach," the chairman added.

During the AGM, the CEO, Salaam Said Al Shaksy, said that due to a well-defined strategy and its execution, the bank managed to navigate through challenging economic conditions in 2017 and achieve strong growth and enhanced profitability.

"The bank managed to improve its yield on assets, and increase the fee income, while improving on other key performance indicators including net profit margins and the cost to income ratio," he added.

The bank's financing receivables increased by 47.13 per cent to reach OMR460.20 million from OMR312.79 million at the end of 2016, deposits increased by 63.03 per cent to reach OMR474.47 million and the investment portfolio increased by OMR32.09 million to reach OMR41.31 miilion. While achieving such a significant growth in a challenging environment, the bank managed to maintain strong credit quality of the portfolio and contained the non-performing assets ratio to 0.24 per cent.

The bank's revenue from financing and investing activities increased by 68.88 per cent to OMR21.15 million from OMR12.53 million compared to last year. Net operating loss before provisions and tax reduced by 55.86 per cent to OMR1.62 million while the bank achieved operating profit of OMR283,000 in the fourth quarter of the year. Net loss of the bank reduced by 36.59 per cent to OMR2.99 million from OMR4.72 million and the bank posted net profit of OMR154,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Times of Oman