Khaleeji Commercial Bank announces its listing on the Bahrain Stock Exchange at an event in Kuwait

The event, held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, was followed by a lunch attended by members of the media, analysts, investors and brokers.

Speaking at the conference, Dr. Fuad Abdulla Al-Omar, Chairman of Khaleeji Commercial Bank said: "The listing will transform the Bank from a closed to a public joint stock company which will allow KHCB to venture into new Shari'a compliant investment opportunities which in turn will benefit our shareholders. This will also benefit the Bank in expanding its investment portfolio in the region and beyond."

Mr Ebrahim H Ebrahim, CEO and Board Member of KHCB commented: "We aim to capitalise on several investment opportunities in the region due to large scale public and private spending backed by high oil revenues. The Bank plans to expand further into the MENA region as well as other parts of the world including Asia which will help with our vision in expanding the Bank's portfolio of assets."

KHCB recently reported strong results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008. Net income for the quarter increased by 213% to BD12.6m compared to BD4m for the corresponding period in 2007. Total assets grew by 187% to BD308.5m and customer deposits increased by 130% as of March 2008. On an annualised basis, Return on Average Assets was 17.4%, and Return on Average Equity was 39.9%. The Bank also distributed a cash dividend of 15% for the year 2007.

Securities and Investment Company B.S.C(C) is the Listing Advisor on the KHCB Primary Listing. Hatim S. Zu'bi & Partners is the Legal Advisor. KPMG Fakhro is the Auditor.