Bahrain based BMI Bank today announced a net profit of BD 2.8 million (USD 7.4 million) for the first half ended 30 June 2008, an increase of 23 % as compared to the corresponding period last year. Loans and Advances stood at BD 447 million (USD 1,185 million) as compared to BD 321 million (USD 853 million) at 30 June 2007.
Speaking on the Bank’s performance, Andrew Bainbridge, Chief Executive Officer of BMI said: “I am happy with our half yearly results which continue to demonstrate progress against our strategy. During the first half of 2008 we successfully launched our first offshore bank in the Seychelles as well as Sapphire- our designer Premier Banking service for affluent individuals in Bahrain. We have announced the acquisition of the Diners Club franchise in Bahrain, tripled our personal loans sales, quadrupled our retail customer acquisition over the previous year and seen a 22% growth in customer liabilities in the first half. Our new pre-approval process on mortgage loans, committing to provide an answer on mortgage loan commitments within 24 hours has received a strong response from customers.
The first half has also seen us bear start up costs on Seychelles, Qatar and our share of start up costs in Kenya within our published numbers. The ongoing expansion of our network within Bahrain through increased numbers of branches and offsite ATM’s serves to make us more convenient to our customers.”
