Kuwait Finance House Reported A 14 Percent Rise In First-quarter Net Profit

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) reported a 14 percent rise in first-quarter net profit according to a statement on Wednesday, as the country's biggest Islamic lender set aside less cash for bad loans and recorded lower expenses.

Net profit rose to 34.1 million dinars ($113.2 million) in the three months to the end of March, from 29.9 million dinars in the same period a year ago, the statement said.

EFG Hermes forecast the lender would make a quarterly net profit of 35.44 million dinars.

The results were boosted by an 8 percent drop in provisions and impairments and a 6 percent decline in total expenses. The bank didn't quantify how much each was worth.

This helped offset a 6 percent drop in net financing income during the period to 160.7 million dinars, and investment income slipping 48 percent year on year to 8.4 million dinars.

KFH was studying the issuance of Islamic bonds that would boost its Tier 1 capital or its supplementary Tier 2 capital, chief executive Mazen al-Nahedh told Arabiya TV in January.

Several Gulf banks have been looking to raise their capital reserves this year but many are hoping for an easing of stock and bond market volatility before doing so.

The bank, which owns 62.2 percent of Turkey's Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, is undergoing a restructuring of some of its units ahead of a planned divestment by its largest shareholder, the Kuwait Investment Authority.

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