Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has affirmed its "A-/A-2" long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Gulf International Bank (GIB). The Bank's outlook has also been affirmed as stable.
A statement issued by the international credit rating agency explained that "the ratings on GIB continue to reflect the bank's supportive ownership structure, enhanced merchant-banking franchise, and solid loan quality.... GIB is a merchant bank focusing on the Gulf market, with a particular expertise in syndicated lending and project finance."
S&P added that the stable outlook demonstrates the "expectation that GIB will continue to benefit from the commitment of its shareholders and a strong commercial position in the Gulf region."
GIB's chief executive officer Dr Khaled Al Fayez said: "This is a strong testimony of the bank's sound merchant banking strategy, which has led in the past few years to a significant expansion in the bank's operations and in its fee-based income, especially from corporate advisory and asset management activities."
BMB prepays loan
BMB Investment Bank (BMB) announced that it completed the prepayment of the remaining balance on its $75 million syndicated loan this week. The balance of $28.5 million was paid to the syndicate on Friday, four months ahead of schedule.
Commenting on the prepayment, the bank's chief executive, Albert I Kittaneh, said: "The prepayment of this loan serves to highlight both the strength of the bank's earning power as well as the increase in its internally generated liquidity. More importantly this move will provide additional operational and strategic flexibility for the bank and should increase the bank's access to funding.
"We would like to thank the Central Bank of Bahrain for their unwavering support and guidance over the last few years. Our thanks also go to the syndicate lenders, including the Arab Banking Corporation as agent, for their co-operation."
SICO's milestone
Securities & Investment Company (SICO) announced that it has concluded the largest transaction to take place to date on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE). SICO's brokerage unit was involved in the purchase of approximately 147,637,621 ordinary shares of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait for one of its institutional clients. The transaction had a total trade value of BD122.8 million ($325.8 million).
This transaction continues to reflect SICO's position as a leading broker of GCC equities and reinforces its place as the most active broker on the BSE in terms of trading value/value of stocks traded.
Outsourcing model
global technology solutions and services provider 3i Infotech announced bringing the 1st Middle East Fund Management Round Table to Bahrain in partnership with Ernst & Young and introduced its unique and innovative 'Business Execution Outsourcing' model specifically tailor made for the mutual funds industry.
In a statement, the software major said that the round table is being held at a time when the mutual fund market is becoming more competitive and the traditional insourcing model is fading out and fund houses are looking at cost-saving IT products, such as 3i Infotech's Business Execution Outsourcing.
"To manage their business value chain, these dynamic organisations are looking for 'partners' that combine strong domain expertise, with technology solutions implementation experience, which goes beyond mere 'outsourcing'," 3i Infotech deputy managing director Hari Padmanabhan said.
