BANKING - Al-Omar: KFH-Turkey's success encouraged other foreign banks to enter Turkish market

Chairman of Kuwait Finance House in Turkey Mohammed Al-Omar announced that the bank plans to continue its pivotal role in the Turkish market, in addition to cementing its strategy that is based on strengthening economic relations with neighboring countries, and with Kuwait and other GCC countries. He added that the bank also plans to continue offering Islamic products and instruments that can broaden the horizon of Islamic banking in the Turkish economy, such as sukuk, murabaha, and ijarah. (source)

Al-Omar went on to say during a forum held in Turkey that was attended by Turkish Minister of Finance and Minister of Economy, in addition to other economic, business and political figures, that KFH-Turkey has become a source of motivation for many Turkish banks and financial institutions. He noted that the success of the bank was very challenging, and that the bank managed to increase its branches in Turkey to reach 166 branches; thus allowing it to compete to be one of the top 10 banks in Turkey. He revealed that the bank offered products that never existed before in the Turkish market, such as the gold account and sukuk. 

Regarding its global expansion, he stated that the bank expanded into Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Dubai, and Germany. He mentioned that during the Q3 of this year, the bank achieved TL 160.5 million as net profit with 25% increase over same period last year, while the capital adequacy ratio reached 16.5% by end of September. Assets increased to reach TL 13.671 billion with 58.13% increase.

Furthermore, the bank offered the Turkish public sector new funding opportunities in 1992, where it paid USD 50 million that originated from the Gulf. The bank's reputation improved significantly after planning a 2 years murabaha deal worth USD 200 million in 2006, where the funding came from the GCC and European banks with USD 265 million over-subscription.

Moreover, he said that 2010 witnessed the first sukuk deal in Turkey, where the bank offered a USD 100 million sukuk deal in collaboration with Liquidity Management House and Citi Bank. The deal was followed by a USD 350 million sukuk deal.

It is worth noting that KFH owns 63% of KFH-Turkey, in addition to other public institutions in Kuwait and Turkey. The bank began operating in 1989 with a capital of USD 10 million.

-Ends-

© Press Release 2011 

Source : http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20111206122337  - Dec 7, 2011