Sakana announces capital increase at EGM

At Sakana's first AGM and EGM since its December 2006 launch, Chairman, Mr Jamal M. Hijres, revealed this strategic financial decision, which was given the full backing of Sakana's shareholders - BBK and Shamil Bank. The move will allow the mortgage provider to expand and grow its operations and continue to play an active role in the mortgage industry with its innovative product and service portfolio.

Sakana has doubled authorized capital from BD10 million to BD20 million and increased paid-up capital from BD5 million to BD 12.5 million. This puts the Islamic mortgage provider in a strong position to meet current and future business requirements which will allow new business opportunities to be acted upon as they arise. In fact, the Board of Directors and Management have also cemented plans to broaden Sakana's already holistic focus by including property development and investment as well as project financing.

Sakana's Chairman, Mr Jamal M. Hijres, commented:

"This capital increase will give us a substantial financial base from which to embark upon the many projects that we have been considering as part of Sakana's strategic growth plan. With the increasing confidence and investment opportunities in Bahrain's property market, we are confident that now is the right time for us to expand our existing operations."

Chief Executive officer, Mr R. Lakshmanan added: "We are in the business of providing long term finance - in some cases, up to a 30-year term - so we need to be able to reassure our customers, financiers and developers that Sakana is a stable company with a solid financial base. This capital increase will also allow us to satisfy regulatory requirements for increasing our financing to customers and to expand our operations."

The fact that the Bahraini economy has entered a growth phase with a strong upsurge in mortgage financing is one of the factors which has led to extremely favourable levels of new business since Sakana's launch, only six months ago. Mortgage finance supply has to increase to keep pace with the demand created by property projects currently under construction in the kingdom and Sakana has already approved mortgages in excess of BD 12 million in the last six months.

Mr Hijres added: "It was a natural progression for Sakana to move into new areas of business which are related to current operations. We are confident that Sakana's future is extremely bright. Both shareholders and customers will reap the benefits of our growth and development as this will allow us to fulfill our promise of a holistic approach by providing access to a whole range of property-related services."

Sakana is supporting Bahrain's housing market by offering mortgage solutions to an increasingly wide range of income groups - including both residents and non-residents. This means that property buyers can have ready access to finance backed up by sound advice from Sakana's customer advisors and a broad range of property-related experts within Sakana's diverse network of real estate professionals.