Chairman of Kuwait International Bank (KIB), Sheikh Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, announced the Bank’s financial results for the year ended December 31st, 2022, confirming the stability of its financial standing and the steadiness of its sustainable growth trajectory – despite the persisting economic and financial challenges facing the region and the global economy. The Bank has also continued, throughout the year, to innovate new banking products and services in response to its customer’s needs, offering them exclusive benefits and digital solutions that are in line with customers’ modern lifestyles and market trends.
Commenting on the latest financial results for KIB, Al-Jarrah announced that, the Bank had achieved net profit attributable to shareholders amounting to almost KD 13.6 million, with earnings per share (EPS) of 7.92 fils, while registering a total operating income of KD 62.5 million.
Sheikh Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of Kuwait International Bank (KIB)
He further noted KIB’s continued efforts towards improving its asset quality matrices, reflecting on the audited consolidated financial statements which indicated that the Bank's assets grew by 14%, reaching KD 3.58 billion by the end of 2022 – compared to almost KD 3.14 billion in the preceding year. Al-Jarrah elaborated that this growth resulted from of an increase in financing portfolio by KD 346 million to reach almost KD 2.62 billion at the end of 2022, compared to KD 2.27 billion at the end of 2021, achieving a growth of 15%, denoting an upward growth trajectory and sound financial performance for the Bank.
According to the latest financial results, growth in the investment portfolio was recorded, especially in securities, which is concentrated on investments in high-quality Sukuk, which increased 4% in 2022, amounting to KD 308 million, compared to KD 296 million at the end of previous year.
He further added: “The Bank remains committed to diversifying its financing and investment activities, locally, regionally, and internationally by participating in joint financing deals, among others, in cooperation with the customers across different sectors, including telecommunication as well as oil and gas; and secondly, through Sukuk deals, in cooperation with market-leading companies and financial institutions in the region and the world, at the best capital cost. This reinforces the Bank's financial position the regional capital markets.”
Regarding dividends, Al-Jarrah stated that KIB’s Board of Directors proposed cash dividends of 4 fils per share, in addition to 4% bonus shares from the issued and paid up capital, subject to the approvals of the Bank’s shareholders’ general assembly and competent authorities.
Al-Jarrah also added that KIB primarily focuses on providing added value to depositors and shareholders, offering them attractive returns and contributing to the sustainability of the Bank’s business.
In addition, Al-Jarrah noted that, as part of the KIB’s transformational strategy, the Bank has adopted a dynamic operating model and an agile approach that seeks to keep pace with the banking sector’s continuous developments; allowing the Bank to adapt to the market’s evolving trends and to respond to its customers’ aspirations and requirements under any circumstance. Meanwhile, the Bank remains committed to investing in its digital infrastructure and bolstering innovation in its operational processes, enabling it to avail services that meet the aspirations of today’s customers and to maintain its leading and competitive position in the banking sector.
Raed Jawad Bukhamseen, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait International Bank (KIB)
Commenting on the financial results of 2022. Raed Jawad Bukhamseen, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank said: “The consolidated financial statements reflect the Bank’s outstanding financial performance over the past year, unfolding in spite of the economic and financial difficulties which continue to impact various vital sectors worldwide. Notwithstanding such an unfavorable operating environment, we continue to deploy our comprehensive experience in the financial industry, dedicating our efforts to mitigating the impact and burden of these challenges. At the same time, we continue to approach our operations with a studied, cautious and prudent vision; taking thoroughly mapped out steps forward that rely on integrated mitigation policies for risk management as well as approved and reliable approaches to crisis management.”
In his statement, Bukhamseen, stated that the financial statements for 2022 registered a 13% growth in depositors’ accounts, reaching almost KD 2.34 billion, compared to KD 2.06 billion as at 31 December 2021. Meanwhile, shareholder equity amounted to KD 254 million.
Bukhamseen further noted that KIB maintained adequate levels of Basel III total capital adequacy ratio, which reached 16.6%; while the leverage ratio was 8.04% at the end of 2022.
Bukhamseen also shed light on a series of consecutive achievements that defined 2022 for KIB, which spanned several of the Bank’s businesses and fields of operation. At the top of these achievements was innovatively expanding KIB’s retail banking services, including the development and launch of new products, such as Al Dirwaza draw account, which has become the most competitive investment wakalah account of its kind in Kuwait. In addition, the Bank also offered its customers a wide range of Shari’a-compliant financing deals which aim at supporting and fulfilling their diverse needs. This was made possible through the different strategic partnerships that the Bank signed with some of the biggest companies and service providers – including health-care facilities, educational institutions, and various brands – guaranteeing a comprehensive financing experience for the Bank’s customers.
On the digital front, Bukhamseen remarked that 2022 witnessed an expansive digital upgrade that touched upon all of the Bank’s operations, paving the path for the introduction of advanced digital solutions for the majority of its services, including opening accounts online or through the mobile app, in addition to the new contactless payment solutions, as well as other payment solutions that are facilitate the fulfillment of payments for government agencies through ‘Tasdeed’ portal – such as the KIB PayCard account service. Additionally, the Bank launched its digital platform, PayTally, offering digital benefits that support customers with their financing transactions. This is not to mention that year-round campaigns that KIB launched, enticing customers to adopt digital banking services and solutions.
It also serves to note that KIB succeeded during 2022 in establishing Digital Innovation Factory, the Bank’s technological arm, which was designed around modern technologies and innovative systems to develop advanced solutions for the different vital businesses, serving all customers across market segments, whether retail or corporate.
Social Responsibility
KIB is among the driving forces behind one of Kuwait’s most profound and comprehensive social responsibility programs across the banking sector’s major institutions, renewing, under its umbrella, the Bank’s commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and practices. The Bank’s commitment to the ESG guidelines is but an extension to its determination to play an active role in the wide-scale development of society across diverse fields, enabling the Bank to benefit as many segments of society as possible.
In this regard, KIB established an ESG unit responsible for monitoring the Bank’s institutional sustainable practices, both internally and externally, which follows its success in being the first Kuwaiti institution to join the UN Global Compact, vouching to work in to accordance with its ten constituent principles. Furthermore, KIB published its first sustainability report, attesting to its commitment to community service and propelling the national wheel of development forward.
The Bank’s social responsibility also extended to benefit companies with the founding of KIB Mubader Center, which serves entrepreneurs who are running small-and-medium-sized companies, and acting as an incubator and accelerator for their business, as part of an integrated qualifying system that aims at raising a generation of national entrepreneurial talents – all of which stems from the Bank’s faith in the vital role that entrepreneurs play in the growth and development of the private sector and the diversification of the domestic economy.
Awards and Honors
It serves to note that KIB continues to grow to its rich record of honors, garnering multiple recognitions throughout 2022, which included the Bonds, Loans, and Sukuk award for “Best Islamic Syndicated Finance Deal”. The Bank was also recognized by several other platforms and notable honorary bodies, such as Asian Banking and Finance and Islamic Finance News magazines. Add to that an array of The Asset Triple A awards for “Islamic Financing”, as well as Capital Finance International awards for the “Best Banking Vision in MENA” and the “Best Shari’a-Compliant Bank”, and, last but not least, the World Finance (WF) award for the "Best Customer-Focused Islamic Banking Products and Services in Kuwait” in 2022.
Rounding up a challenging, yet successful year, KIB turns to the Central Bank of Kuwait and all of its stakeholders – including staff, customers, partners, and the entire community – with gratitude for their invaluable support and undeniable role in the Bank’s achievements and growth.
