Finance & Capital Market
GFH net profit for 2021 surges 87pc to $84m
GFH, a leading financial group with interests in asset management and real estate, has reported a 87% growth in its net profit for FY 2021 which soared to $84.22 million, mainly due to the strong performance across the group’s core business lines.
GFH, a leading Bahrain-based financial group with interests in key sectors such as asset management and real estate, has reported a net profit of $84.22 million for FY 2021 compared to $45.09 million the previous year, registering an increase of 86.77 per cent.
Announcing its financial results for 12-month period ended December 31, 2021, GFH said the total income for the year was $398.75 million up 23.30% from $323.39 million for the previous year.
Consolidated net profit for the year was $92.62 million compared $49.34 million in 2020, an increase of 87.70%. Total expenses, including impairment allowances, for the year were $306.13 million up from $274.05 million in 2020, an increase of 11.71%, it stated.
The increase reflects stronger contributions throughout 2021 from all business lines including investment banking, commercial banking, real estate and treasury activities.
Total equity attributable to shareholders was $0.96 billion at December 31, 2021 up 5.45% from $0.91 billion at year-end 2020.
According to GFH, the total assets of the group continued to grow reaching $8.08 billion compared with $6.59 billion at year-end 2020, an increase of 22.72%. The group’s total assets and assets under management (AUM) also increased 25% from $12 billion at year-end 2020 to around $15 billion at year-end 2021 reflecting continued growth in the Group’s existing portfolio and new investments made during the year.
On the Q4 results, GFH said net profit attributable to shareholders was $23.88 million for the period, up 8.92%, compared with $21.93 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The growth was the result of strong continued performance across the group’s core business lines and significant contributions from its investment banking business, which generated $52.25 million in fees from placement activities linked to the Group’s investments in the logistics, healthcare and education sectors.
This included investments in a prime FedEx logistics facility in the US, the UAE’s leading multi-speciality healthcare provider and a global healthcare education pioneer alongside Schroders Capital with whom the Group signed a strategic partnership during the fourth quarter to co-invest in select private equity and venture capital deals in Europe and the Americas.
Earnings per share for the quarter was US cents 0.72 versus US cents 0.64 for the comparative quarter of 2020. Total income for the fourth quarter was $128.14 million compared with $109.29 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a rise of 17.25%.
Consolidated net profit for Q4 was $24.34 million compared with $19.04 million the previous year, registering an increase of 27.87%. Total expenses, including impairment allowances, for the quarter were $103.80 million compared with $90.26 million in the prior-year period, up 15%.
Impressed with the results, the GFH board has recommended a total cash dividend of $60 million at 6.07% on par value, divided into 4.57% cash dividends amounting to $45 million and 1.5% stock dividends of $15 million for the shareholders, subject to approval by the General Assembly and regulators.
On the solid results, Chairman Jassim Alseddiqi said: "We’re very pleased with the Group’s performance for 2021 and the solid growth achieved across the business. Despite the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world, we were able to improve income, strengthen profitability and once again deliver a healthy dividend for our shareholders."
"Our results also continue to reflect the strength of our strategy and the quality of the portfolio of assets we have built and expanded over the past year across the region, US, UK and Europe. During the year, we also took important steps to enhance our balance sheet quality. In doing so, we completed the restructuring of our commercial banking business and set the grounds to spin off our real estate and infrastructure assets to a new company “Infracorp”, which was announced in January 2022 and will specialize in investing in and managing sustainable infrastructure and real estate assets," he remarked.
Alseddiqi pointed out that this was an exciting area of opportunity as global economies transition to a more sustainable future and GFH is well positioned to put its expertise, capital and ethos towards investments that positively contribute to the communities and economies where we are active whilst simultaneously delivering solid returns for the Group and our investors.
"Heading into 2022, we have remained focused on leveraging our strong financial position and pipeline of opportunities to create even greater value for our stakeholders and to do so with even more impact," he noted.
Group CEO Hisham Alrayes said: "We entered 2021 with strong momentum and continued to successfully diversify and expand our business throughout the year. Significant progress was made across all of our business lines with each and every area strengthening its contributions to top and bottom line growth."
"We were especially pleased with the performance of our international investment portfolio, which not only showed resilience but consistently strong returns. Investing in downturn proof assets has enabled us to continue to generate steady streams of income for the Group and our investors despite the remaining difficulties from the pandemic and its impact on global markets," observed Alrayes.
"In total, during the year, we closed more than $1 billion of new investments across the region, international logistics, healthcare and education sectors, which were met with strong demand from our investors and successfully placed. This allowed us to increase our total assets and Asset Under Management (AUM) to $15 billion for 2021," he added.
Alrayes said to support further growth, GFH has also strengthened its presence in the UK with the appointment of a new CEO as the Bahraini group expands its global investment activities as well as concluding a strategic partnership with Schroders Capital, the private markets investment division of Schroders, the global asset management giant.
"With solid foundations in place, we look forward to stronger performance and results in 2022," he added.-TradeArabia News Service