BANKING - Germany for the full path of the Turkish banking sector in Kuwait

www.yenisafak.com.tr - Director General of Kuwait Turkish Horizon Wake up, demand for interest-free banking in the field believe to be an important stage in Germany said, a full application for a banking license. In Frankfurt, Germany, organized by the German banking regulatory and supervisory agency BaFin 2 Involved to make the opening speech of the Conference of Islamic Finance, wake up and practice the basic principles of interest-free banking model mentions the provision of interest-free banking model tested in crisis and who support the real economy and the remarkable success of a system that stands out from being too closely related to speculation, he said.  (source)

BANKING - Albaraka Turk Gains After Dunya Report of Gulf, Balkan Expansion

www.businessweek.com - Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi AS (ALBRK), a Turkish Islamic bank, climbed after Dunya reported it would expand into the Middle East and Balkans, citing Chief Executive Officer Fahrettin Yahsi.

The shares added 1.6 percent to 1.96 liras at 11:25 a.m. in Istanbul, heading for their highest on a closing basis in three weeks. Shares on the overall banking index fell 0.3 percent to 116,770.2.  (source)

BANKING - Kuwait Finance House announces 11.4% increase in deposits, 11.2% increase in total assets - Kuveyt Turk going strong

www.ameinfo.com - Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Chairman Sameer Al-Nafisi announced that KFH has achieved total revenues of KD182.8m during the first quarter of 2012.

Total profits reached KD57.4m, including KD36.9m estimated profit for investment depositors. Net profit for shareholders reached KD20.1m, while earnings per share reached 7 fils. Total assets increased to KD14.2bn, with KD1.4bn or 11.2% increase over the same period last year. Deposits increased to KD9.2bn, with KD938m or 11.4% increase over same period last year.Total shareholders' equity reached KD1.3bn, with KD14m or 1.1% increase over same period last year.

Al-Nafisi highlighted the bank's ability to implement its plans and strategies even in the most challenging of time, which increases the potential of improving financial indicators during the coming period.  (source)

BANKING - First Turkish participation bank enters Iraq

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - Albaraka Türk has become the first Turkish participation bank to open a branch in the city of Arbil in northern Iraq. The bank also plans to branch out to Qatar, Bahrain and Dubai in the near term and Europe, specifically Germany, Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo, in the medium term. “We are in Iraq to increase the presence of Turkish firms in the region, to support the development of the region and to modernize the Middle East,” Albaraka Türk’s general manager, Fahrettin Yahşi, told daily Hürriyet. Yahşi said Arbil was the most developed region in Iraq and on the brink of a re-birth, adding that Albaraka Türk was there to help the city reach its target of becoming a future Dubai. (source)

RATINGS - Capital Intelligence upgrades KFH-Turkey's rating

www.zawya.com - Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, announced that ithas raised the Financial Strength rating of KFH-Turkey. The rating is raised to'bb+' from 'bb,' underpinned by its very sound asset quality, good capitalprofile and continued good profitability, and the support rating of '2' is affirmed.

TheLong-term Foreign Currency rating is affirmed at 'bb,' while the Short-termForeign Currency rating is affirmed at 'b,' both at the same level as thesovereign rating. All ratings carry a 'Stable' outlook.  (source)

BANKING - Kuwait Turk's new product is introduced in Dubai, the bank allows customers to supply gold 7 days and 24 hours.

ISTANBUL - Turkish Participation Bank of Kuwait, the "Golden Corner" of national and international public organizations introduced the product in Dubai.

According to the Kuwait Turk, Turkey, and gold gained prominence on the world day of each month a new product which the Bank, Golden Corner product offered to customers. A presenter in the meeting held in Dubai GITEX Exhibition in Kuwait Turkish Personal and Business Banking, Marketing and Product Development Group Manager Mustafa Degree, a broad product segments associated with gold, he said. (source)

BANKING - Kuveyt Turk epitomizes optimism of participation banking sector

By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 28, 2011 00:07 

Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (KTPB), a subsidiary of the Kuwait Finance House (KFH), one of the pioneers of global Islamic finance, is a leading Turkish participation (Islamic bank). While Turkish participation banks in general are deemed to be conservative and cautious, KTPB has set the tone by venturing abroad into Germany, Dubai, Bahrain and Kazakhstan and by pioneering new products based on physical gold and exporting them to markets in Malaysia and elsewhere through the global network of KFH. These include gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold-backed banking accounts and sukuk. Ufuk Uyan, CEO of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, a doyen of Turkish Islamic banking, has been at the forefront of the expansion of KTPB, taking it to the top 10 tier of Turkish banks. Here Ufuk Uyan discusses with Arab News the state of the participation banking sector in Turkey, the performance of KTPB in 2010 and the prospects and challenges for the industry in 2011 and beyond. (full story)

BANKING - KFH witnesses noticeable growth in 2010

KUWAIT: Chairman and Managing Director of Kuwait Finance House Badr Al-Mukhaizeem announced during the press conference which was held yesterday at the bank's premises that the profits of the bank reached 80 percent and that they have taken a good amount of provisions to avoid any bad consequences of the settlement of credit.

Al-Mukhaizeem said that the bank had earned revenues from two external real estate projects in KSA about 70 percent where every project is amounting to KD25 million. "We have enough liquidity and we are supporting all our companies in rescheduling their debts", he added. On the other hand he pointed out that the total financing portfolio of the bank is amounting to KD8 billion and 2.8 billion of it was used in local financing. Mohammad Sulaiman Al-Omar, CEO of the bank said that the bank is studying financing projects in France that complies with the laws of the shariaa and had invested in retail projects locally and externally. (full story)