Kuwait Times, Thursday, Mar 23, 2023 | Ramadan 1, 1444
Boubyan Bank distributes 6% in cash dividends and 6% in bonus shares
Kuwait :
Chairman of Boubyan Bank Abdulaziz Abdullah
Dakheel Al-Shaya reiterated the bank’s ongoing endeavors to achieve excellent
and accelerating growth of financial indicators and market shares in a manner
that benefits all its shareholders and the Kuwaiti economy, in addition to
focusing on quality customer service and upskilling the bank’s human resources,
which turns Boubyan into a banking and digital powerhouse in Kuwait and the
region.
In his word before the bank’s general assembly held with an attendance of 83.1
percent, with physical and electronic attendance by shareholders, Al-Shaya said
that Boubyan concluded last year by recording KD 57.8 million in net profits at
a growth rate of 19 percent with a earnings per share of 14.2 fils. Moreover,
the bank continued its prudential approach by allocating KD 43.6 million in
provisions.
He added: “All of the bank’s key indicators witnessed a remarkable growth in
2022, where the total combined assets of Boubyan Bank Group increased to KD 7.9
billion at a growth rate of 7 percent. Moreover, the total of customers’
deposits grew by 6 percent to reach KD 6 billion while the financing portfolio
grew by 7 percent to reach KD 5.9 billion and operating income grew by 7 percent
to reach KD 201 million.
Al-Shaya thanked all shareholders for their trust in Boubyan Bank’s Board of
Directors, which reflected positively on supporting the bank’s journey as a part
of its well-studied strategy at the level of the banking sector, thus leading to
positive indicators across all levels despite the domestic and global challenges
that affected the performance of banks and other business sectors in general.
Al-Shaya stressed the board’s full and ongoing support to the efforts of the
bank’s highly-professional executive management, stating that he valued their
efforts towards achieving the best results, which could not have been achieved
without the sincere efforts of the management and all employees of the bank.
Approval of profit distribution
During the general assembly meeting, it was approved to distribute 6 percent in
cash dividends and 6 percent in bonus shares to eligible shareholders who are
registered with the bank’s registers as at the end of the maturity date of April
17th 2023 and to allocate the same to shareholders on April 19th 2023. The board
of directors shall be authorized to dispose of the share fractions and amend
this schedule in case the confirmation thereof is not announced at least eight
business days ahead of the maturity date as stipulated and line with the
provisions of the Law.
Furthermore, the Ordinary General Assembly approved the proposal of the Board of
Directors to distribute dividends to shareholders at the end of the financial
year or semi-annually, and authorized the Board to execute the decision of the
General Assembly as per the percentages decided by the Board.
On his part, Boubyan Bank’s Vice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer Adel
Abdul Wahab Al-Majed stated: “Throughout its successful journey, Boubyan Bank
managed to become one of the leading banks in the Islamic banking sector,
locally and regionally, through effective application of sound governance bases
and principles.
“The bank’s market share and its ongoing growth, coupled with the continued
reinforcement of our expansion plans, reflect the high levels in customer
service and digital excellence, which are the fruit of the bank’s clear
strategy, professional executive team, and continued investment in our human
resources with special focus on our national cadres”, Al-Majed added.
Nomo Bank and expansion overseas
He added: “In line with the strategic approach aiming to reinforce the global
presence of Boubyan Bank with focus on digital banking services, Boubyan Bank
managed in 2020 to complete the acquisition of the UK-based Bank of London and
The Middle East “BLME” by acquiring 71 percent of its existing shares. We aspire
for BLME to become the Islamic bank of choice for GCC customers in the United
Kingdom as we have incorporated a set of main principles for the bank as a part
of its transformation strategy following the acquisition including having a
sustainable customer-focused brand aligned with Boubyan Bank Group.”
He went on to add “One of those principles is making the best use of the group’s
existing business, technology, assets and the group’s network in addition to
breaking from capital and liquidity restrictions by shifting the focus of growth
towards capital-efficient business, and offering business products and services
that meet market needs for GCC customers while developing a future-proof
tech-platform that caters for existing and future needs.”
Speaking about Nomo’s experience, Al-Majed said: “Through Nomo, the bank aspires
to become the Islamic bank of choice for GCC customers in the United Kingdom.”
He elaborated: “Nomo continues to leave its mark on the Islamic digital banking
sector through the recent launch of many products such as the sharia-compliant
property finance product, which allows all customers in the Middle East to own
properties in the United Kingdom in a major step towards employing the digital
bank’s services in providing easier, more convenient, and secure property
finance solutions.
Additionally, it has launched its new multi-currency account which allows
customers to perform banking transactions in 6 different currencies and to link
them all to one Nomo card and Apple Pay to use them globally, thus offering
easier, more convenient, and secure digital payment solutions.”
18th anniversary
Al-Majed added: “We celebrate Boubyan Bank’s 18th anniversary following its
incorporation as an Islamic financial institution. Over those years, the bank
managed to confirm its status as one of the most important Kuwaiti banks that
made lots of achievements and successes in the local market despite its
establishment since a relatively short period compared with other banks.”
He went on to highlight: “Boubyan Bank’s digital transformation strategy gained
a significant momentum, being a real example for succeeding in being highly
competitive regionally in digital services, and in changing the lives of our
customers through our services and products. Our digital services’ journey is
very exceptional. It has seen us excel and climb to the top of the pyramid amid
tough competition in the market for digital banking services which is growing
rapidly.”
National cadres, the real power
Al-Majed stated: “Boubyan continued supporting its human resources and
recruiting national cadres, and was able to reach the highest percentage of
manpower across the private sector which now exceeds 80 percent, and continued
its enablement approach for women who now account for 26 percent of the bank’s
employees, with many of them occupying leadership positions.”
In 2022, Boubyan Bank invested in its human cadres to improve their competence
and sharpen their skills by offering them training programs and courses in
cooperation with top companies specialized in human resources’ consulting and
development. This came out of Boubyan Bank’s keenness to adopt leading
international standards to ensure that the bank is ready for future challenges
by qualifying its leaders and providing them with the necessary tools to
sufficiently compete in the market.
A year of achievements
Moreover, Al-Majed highlighted Boubyan Bank’s achievements during 2022 and its
success in earning many awards from renowned regional and international
institutions in addition to the ongoing improvement of its credit ratings from
international rating agencies, reflecting the positive role played by the bank
along with its outstanding contributions to the Islamic banking industry in
various areas.
Last year, Boubyan Bank received an upgrade of its credit rating from Moody’s
and Standard & Poor’s, where the bank’s “long-term issuer credit rating”
received an upgrade to A2 and A respectively; such ratings placed Boubyan Bank
in the lead of local banks and ahead of all Islamic banks rated by Standard &
Poor’s in Kuwait, while ranking second at the level of all local banks rated by
Moody’s and Fitch.
Moreover, Global Finance named Boubyan Bank the “World’s Best Islamic Digital
Bank” for the eighth consecutive year, owing to the bank’s continuous
achievements in this area as well as the role Boubyan plays in offering the best
digital services in Kuwait, and its acquisition of influential market shares.
Additionally, the bank joined the annual list of Forbes Top 100 Listed Companies
in the Middle East, which crowns a decade full of achievements and successes
that took the bank to the top of the pyramid of the Kuwaiti banking industry.
Continuous excellence to ensure customers’ satisfaction
Al-Majed elaborated: “Our priority continues to be our readiness to serve our
customers and our ongoing focus on offering excellent products or services, be
they digital or conventional, as well as our engagement with our customers. This
qualified us to earn two awards recently from Service Hero, the international
consumer-driven customer satisfaction index. The bank was named the Best Islamic
Bank in Customer Service for the 13th year in a row since 2010, in addition to
receiving the First Place Award in Customer Service as a Country Winner across
all economic sectors in Kuwait.”
“Boubyan bank continues in the leading position among all conventional and
Islamic local banks, evidenced by a customer-satisfaction score of 98 percent.
Moreover, we increased the number of our branches and redesigned them to better
serve our customers nation-wide, in addition to revising our procedures to
guarantee a better, easier, quicker, and smoother banking experience to our
customers,” he added.