Apicorp’s third quarter net profit jumps 90%

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

ARAB Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), the multilateral development bank owned by the ten member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), maintained its robust growth momentum this year with its third quarter net profit almost doubling from last year.

Apicorp’s third quarter net profit for 2012 rose 90 percent to $12.67 million compared to $6.68 million last year.

The third quarter results were approved at Apicorp’s quarterly Board meeting, held in Cairo on October 5
The government of Qatar owns a 10 percent stake in Apicorp.

Apicorp’s cumulative net profit for the first three quarters of this year reached $63.2 million, a 33 percent jump from the $47.5 million recorded over the same period last year. Total assets rose 13% to reach $ 5.1 billion compared to $ 4.5 billion at the end of September this year.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive and General Manager of Apicorp Ahmad Bin Hamad al Nuaimi said: “Our third quarter performance validates our strategic roadmap where we have maintained a balance between growth initiatives and risk management.

Apicorp’s ability to enhance its lending capacity on the back of its capital base expansion and funding diversification not only makes it stand out in today’s tough banking environment, but is also delivering results for Apicorp’s shareholders and resulted in last month’s rating upgrade by Moody’s from A1 to a double Aa3.” Earlier this month in Cairo, Apicorp’s Board ratified a five-year term loan worth SAR 440 million ($117 million) towards financing the Multilateral Development Bank’s operations. Earlier this year, the Board approved a five year term loan worth SAR 500 million ($133 million), and approved Apicorp’s first ever three year SAR 2.5 billion ($667 million) Shari’ah Compliant term loan facility, which was oversubscribed by leading Saudi banks.

“In 2012, we expanded our array of value offerings aimed at supporting energy companies through a series of initiatives that included a partnership with JP Morgan to expand our energy trade finance services to the Arab World and beyond.

At a time when international bank financing resources are getting scarcer in the region, we expect Apicorp to play an even more significant role in supporting energyrelated transactions and being a growth-enabler for the Arab hydrocarbon industry,” added al Nuaimi.