KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held its annual General Assembly meeting here the other day at the bank’s headquarters.
NBK reported net profits of KD 261.8 million ($894.2 million) for the year 2014 compared with KD 238.1 million ( $ 813.3 million) in 2013, 10 percent year on year growth. As of end of 2014, NBK Group’s total assets reached KD 21.8 billion ( $ 74.4 billion) up 17.1 percent compared to year-end 2013, while total shareholders’ equity increased by 5.8 percent year on year to KD 2.5 billion ( $ 8.6 billion).
The General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of NBK’s Board of Directors to distribute a cash dividend equivalent to 30 percent of the nominal value of the share (30 fils per share) and bonus shares by 5 percent (5 shares for every 100 shares) to shareholders.
Nasser Al-Sayer, NBK’s Chairman, highlighted the many achievements and accomplishments NBK Group attained in 2014. NBK’s results reaffirm the Bank’s well established and solid financial position and its leadership in the Kuwaiti banking sector.
Al-Sayer said: “NBK’s leadership in financing mega governmental projects locally and the strengthening of its position in regional markets, especially in the GCC all reflected positively on the bank’s performance and laid the groundwork for a profitable and successful new year ahead.”
Al-Sayer stated that the year 2014 was a turning point for the prospects of the Kuwaiti economy. The year saw the launch of several major development projects in which NBK took a leading financing role. NBK’s role reflects its strong reputation and its leadership position in the banking sector locally, and regionally.
“Regionally, NBK continued its strategy to strengthen its position in MENA markets with a particular focus on the GCC markets that are characterized by their strong economic scope and promising growth opportunities,” Al-Sayer said.
Al-Sayer explained that selling NBK’s stake in its Qatari associate, International Bank of Qatar (IBQ), was among the important decisions taken by NBK in 2014. The decision came after difficulties to raise NBK’s 30 percent ownership to a controlling stake. But the exit from IBQ along with the high returns that NBK achieved from this investment enhanced the Bank’s ability to seize better growth opportunities in Qatar and other GCC markets.
Al-Sayer also commented on its investment in Egypt: “Egypt features prominently in NBK’s regional expansion strategy. The Bank feels confident of the country’s medium-to-long term economic growth prospects. To better align with the Group and strengthen the identification with the strong and widely trusted NBK brand, the Bank rebranded Al-Watani Bank of Egypt to NBK-Egypt furthering integration and alliance at the Group level. We expect that NBK-Egypt will deliver better performance in coming years as the political situation stabilizes and continue to view Egypt as a long term investment with significant potential,” Al-Sayer added.
