International Investment Bank's H1 net income rises to $11.3m

Net Income was $11.3m compared with $9.6m for the same period last year. Total Income, which increased by 24.7% to $23.3m in the period, is mainly derived from investment banking fees generated from the structuring, underwriting and placement of new investments.

Total Assets at 30 June 2008 were $237.6m compared to $257.3m at year end 2007 and $87.7m at 30 June 2007. The increase in assets since 30 June 2007 was mainly due to the share issue that was completed in December 2007 which generated net proceeds of $138.9m. The annualized returns for the 2008 first half were 10.4% on Average Equity and 9.1% on Average Assets, while the Cost to Income Ratio was 51.7% which compares very favourably with that of other regional investment banks.

Capital Adequacy Ratio under Basel II was 133.1% as at 30 June 2008 versus the Central Bank of Bahrain's minimum requirement of 12%, demonstrating IIB's ample capacity to increase its investment portfolio in the future from a regulatory capital standpoint.

Commenting on the Bank's results, his Excellency Mr. Saeed Abdul Jalil Mohammed Al Fahim, Chairman of IIB, said:

"Despite increasing competition from other regional financial institutions, IIB has maintained its uninterrupted growth in net income, with a 17.7% increase during the 2008 half year versus the same period last year. The Bank has accomplished several transactions in the first half of 2008, including the placement of the remaining portion of two investment offerings commenced in the last quarter of 2007, the successful offering of two new transactions to investors and the purchase of real estate for future development and sale. With its strong pipeline of deals under various stages of due diligence, the Bank aims to offer to its investors several attractive investments in the real estate and private equity sectors located in diverse geographical areas including Europe, the GCC region and North Africa in the coming months."

Mr. Aabed Al-Zeera, CEO and a Board Member of the Bank commented:

"During the first half of 2008, IIB completed the placement of a real estate development project in Abu Dhabi and a private equity investment in Amrahbank, a commercial bank located in Azerbaijan, that we intend to expand and convert its operations to comply with the Shari'ah. New offerings include the structuring and placement of an equity stake representing 13.2% of ARTES, a leading vehicle distributor located in Tunisia, being IIB's first investment both in Tunisia and in the car distribution sector. The subsequent IPO of ARTES was the largest on the Tunis Stock Exchange in the last 10 years and was over-subscribed more than ten times. The Bank has also structured and partly placed during the second quarter an investment in a green field sugar plant to be constructed in the Kingdom of Bahrain."