Manama, Bahrain - The Bahrain-based Islamic banking
conglomerate, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), said Saturday that it
had received Syrian approval to establish a subsidiary bank with a
capital of 100 million dollars.
The bank, which will be known as Al Baraka Bank-Syria, will
provide full Islamic banking products and services for both private
individuals and companies through a network of branches in Syria's
main cities.
The authorized capital of the bank, which is expected to start its
operating by late 2007, will be subscribed by both founders and
shareholders in public offering.
ABG's CEO Adnan Ahmad Yousif said the group was looking forward to
establishing itself on the Syrian market. The nation had witnessed
positive economic and financial development leading to an excellent
investment environment, he said.
In addition, huge funds are being invested in infrastructural and
development projects in Syria creating many opportunities for banks
and investors.
He added that the successful IPO, which had increased the equity
of the ABG Group to about 1.2 billion dollars, has enabled the group
to expand into new international markets.
The expansion plans include a number of new markets such as
Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and certain Gulf states.
ABG had reported 31 million US dollars in net income for the first
quarter of 2007. ABG has subsidiaries in 10 countries and is listed
on the Bahrain and Dubai stock exchanges.
The group has an authorized capital of 1.5 billion dollars, while
its total equity amounts to about 1.2 billion dollars.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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