Gulf Bank Holds Annual General Meeting and Announces Cash Dividend of 9 fils per Share, 29% Increase from Last Year
Gulf Bank ended its Ordinary Annual General Meeting No. 57, which was held at the Palms Beach Hotel- Kuwait, on Wednesday 7 March 2018, with 85.041% participation. Mr. Omar Kutayba Alghanim, Gulf Bank Chairman, opened the conference by inviting the investors and highlighting the Bank's major business and business social duty efforts throughout 2017. Mr. Alghanim kept in mind: "Gulf Bank has satisfied every one of its strategic milestones for the last few years, and is moving on a path in the direction of development From a financial point of view, we attained double-digit net profit growth.
for the fourth successive year. This level of productivity has actually enabled us to recommend a circulation of 9 fils as a cash money dividend to our investors, a 29% increase from in 2015." Mr. Alghanim proceeded: "Our Bank's solid performance across its business segments is based upon giving excellent customer service to all our customers, both corporate and retail."
Commenting on the key financial highlights for the year, Mr. Alghanim specified that the Bank tape-recorded a web profit of KD 48 million for the year finished 31 December 2017; a boost of 12% over the previous year. He likewise highlighted the development of Gulf Bank's gross loans portfolio of 8% to KD 4 billion and the enhancements in asset high quality, represented by a decrease in the non-performing finance ratio to 1.7%, the lowest level in 10 years. Mr Alghanim included: "Gulf Bank continues be well recognized in terms of its credit worthiness and economic strength worldwide. Throughout 2017, Gulf Bank maintained its "A" level scores from the leading three global credit rating firms; (Moody's, S&P Global Rankings and Fitch Rankings). We are especially happy with Gulf Bank's current long term expectation upgrade from "Stable" to "Positive" by S&P Global Scores."
Throughout the meeting, the General Assembly elected to authorize a cash reward of 9 fils per share. Furthermore, a brand-new Board of Directors was chosen by the General Setting up for the following three-year period (2018-2020). The freshly chosen Board of Directors consists of: Omar Kutayba Alghanim; Ali Murad Behbehani; Bader Eljeaan; Omar Alessa AlQenaei; Jasem Boodai; Khaled Almutawa; Bader Alkhorafi; Sayer Alsayer; and Basel Albader - as a representative of Kuwait Investment Authority. The two alternative Board members are Dari. Albader and Fawaz Hassan. The General Setting up additionally authorized all the continuing to be schedule things.
Setting Standards for Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Capital
Gulf Bank continuouslies be a leader in business social duty initiatives and continues to be highly dedicated to repaying to our beloved country and to all individuals of Kuwait. The CSR program is concentrated on education and youth, entrepreneurship, health and fitness, in addition to promoting Kuwait's rich society and heritage. As in previous years, we have created a different record on our company social obligation program. The adhering to are key highlights:.
INJAZ - Kuwait.
The Bank continuouslies be a lead enroller of INJAZ-Kuwait, which delivers Arabic and English language education programs on entrepreneurial and management skills to help youth build successful careers. The Bank holds the difference of being the company with the highest possible variety of team volunteers participating in the program, with greater than 250 team volunteering their time in order to help INJAZ reach secondary school and university students in Kuwait.
Ajyal Graduate Development Program.
The Bank's flagship Ajyal Graduate Growth Program is now entering its 4th year of establishing human capital. The program identifies and supports young Kuwaiti talent early in their careers and, through an intensive program of trainings to help prepare them for future leadership placements in banking and within Kuwait's financial industry.
Initiatives for the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Every year the Bank conducts a collection of initiatives as part of its Ramadan project. Entitled Change Your Thoughts, this year's Ramadan commercial focused on advertising kinship and enhancing family ties and was narrated by Kuwaiti display legend - Saad Al Faraj. The Bank also partnered with SAVECO supermarket and the Kuwait Food Bank to supply food items boxes to households in need. Moreover, Teller carried out many brows through to children in medical facilities to celebrate girga'an with them.
Memorial Pearl Diving Journey.
The Memorial Pearl Diving Journey is a key sponsorship in the Bank's commitment to protecting the heritage of Kuwait. Youth from Gulf nations come to Kuwait to join this two-week event, which recreates the pearl diving journey of our ancestors, reminding today's young people of the difficulties and difficulties encountered by our ancestors prior to the exploration of oil.
Gulf Bank 642 Marathon Supports UNHCRs Voice for Refugees
In its 3rd year, the 'Gulf Bank 642 Marathon' highlights the value of health and fitness. This year's occasion was exceptionally well went to and placed Kuwait strongly on the worldwide sporting map, as the event is globally certified and shows up in the global schedule of marathon races. Open to all, the occasion has 4 race distances (5km, 10km, 21km, 42km) to interest all degrees of health and fitness. Participants included individuals,households and teams from various backgrounds and over 130 nationalities.
For the 2nd successive year, the Bank partnered with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees), also referred to as the UN Refugee Firm, and its Voices for Refugees campaign. This is an on the internet understanding campaign to stand with evacuees and make their voices listened to and humanize their predicament. Complying with the occasion, the Bank and its partner Pro Vision Sports Monitoring made a monetary donation to UNHCR.
Awards.
Gulf Bank's performance continuouslies be strongly recognized on local, regional, and global degrees. The Bank began the year by setting an international Guinness World Records accomplishment for the largest prize linked to a bank account payout for its Al Danah account reward of One Million KD. Regionally, the Bank was awarded Best Customer Service Provider in the Middle East from International Banker. Locally, the Banks human resources training program won Best Training Program in Kuwait from the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program. The Bank won Excellence in VIP Customer Service from the Public Relations and Customer Service Awards. The Banks Ramadan television commercial also received the Advertising Creativity Award for Most Influential Commercial at the Arab Media Forum.
Finally, Mr. Alghanim said: "I extend my genuine gratitude to our Investors, Board of Supervisors, the Reserve Bank of Kuwait, and the Funding Markets Authority for their recurring leadership, support, and guidance. In behalf of Gulf Bank, I wish to thank our valued customers for their ongoing trust in the Bank, as their loyalty is at the core of our success. Finally, I want to thank our personnel for their specialized solution and for belonging to the Gulf Bank family.
