The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) reported a net profit of 56.6 million Kuwaiti dinars ($188 million) for the first half of 2002, stated a press release. NBK’s Chief Executive, Ibraham S. Dabdoub, attributed the bank’s performance to its strategy of diversifying income sources and its conservative risk culture.
NBK enjoys the highest financial strength rating among all Arab banks from international rating agencies including Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and FitchRatings. Last month, FitchRatings upgraded the long term foreign currency rating of NBK to A+, following another upgrade by Moody’s to A2 in May.
NBK was founded in 1952 as the first indigenous bank and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Gulf Region. It is the largest financial institution in Kuwait with effective market dominance in the commercial banking market. In 2001, NBK reported a record net profit of $342 million with a return on average equity of 25.4 percent and total assets of $14.6 billion. It has 42 local branches and its international network includes branches and subsidiaries in New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Bahrain and Lebanon. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
