Press Releases - AlBaraka Banking Group expands its Business in Indonesia



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AlBaraka Banking Group expands its Business in Indonesia

The Bahrain-based leading Islamic banking group AlBaraka Banking Group B.S.C. (ABG), the parent company of AlBaraka Islamic Bank, announced that it intends to expand further its presence in international markets by setting up a representative office in Indonesia the necessary regulatory approvals having been received recently from Bank Indonesia, the country's Central Bank.

On this occasion, Shaikh Saleh Abdulla Kamel, Chairman of Albaraka Banking Group, said that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, estimated at 220 million. Indonesia has a growing commercial and economic relationship with the Arab and Islamic worlds, while internally it has witnessed positive economic and financial developments giving rise to an excellent investment environment. All these factors encourage major Islamic financial institutions to open offices in Indonesia to serve the Muslim community there and contribute towards facilitating trade flow between Indonesia and the Arab world. Shaikh Saleh Abdulla Kamel added that the recent successful IPO, which increased the equity of ABG Group from US$566 million to about US$1 billion, has enabled the Group to expand further into new international markets. The expansion plans include a number of new markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, certain Gulf States and Syria.

On his part, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President & Chief Executive of ABG, said that the ABG is firmly building up its regional and international presence according to a clear and well thought out strategic vision. The Group is also expanding the range of the banking products and services that it offers to clients, capitalizing on increased financial resources. The Group's US$ 31 million net income for the first quarter of 2007 is an indication of the success of the Group in this regard. This performance was the result of focusing our efforts on a unified business strategy for the Group. Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif added that the investment grade rating obtained by ABG from S&P will further increase the confidence of investors and customers in the Group's future business strategies.

Albaraka Banking Group (ABG), which is a Bahraini Joint Stock Company listed on the Bahrain and Dubai stock exchanges, is a leading international Islamic bank with a Standard & Poor's long-term rating of BBB- and a short-term rating of A-3. ABG offers retail, corporate and investment banking and treasury services strictly in accordance with the principles of the Shari'a. The authorized capital of ABG is US$1.5 billion, while the total equity amounts to about US$1.2 billion. The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking Units in ten countries, which in turn provide their services through more than 216 branches. These banking Units are Banque Al Baraka D'Algerie, Algeria; Al Amin Bank, Bahrain; AlBaraka Islamic Bank, Bahrain; the Egyptian Saudi Finance Bank, Egypt; Jordan Islamic Bank, Jordan; Al Baraka Bank Lebanon, Lebanon; Al Baraka Bank Ltd, South Africa; Al Baraka Bank Sudan, Sudan; Bank Et-Tamweel Al-Tunisi Al Saudi, Tunisia; Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, Turkey and AlBaraka Islamic Bank, Pakistan.