Albaraka assigned investment grade rating

Standard and Poors (S&P) has assigned an investment grade rating to the Bahrain based international Islamic banking conglomerate, Albaraka Banking Group, which is the holding company of Al-Baraka Islamic Bank.
According to a bank's spokesman here on Tuesday, 'Standard and Poor's Ratings Services' assigned its 'BBB-/A-3' long-and short-term counterpart credit ratings to Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group BSC (ABG). It has observed that the ratings on ABG reflect the group's geographic diversification, as a full-fledged Islamic banking group operating in the Middle East and North Africa, its good liquidity profile, and satisfactory capitalisation.
Commenting on the rating, Sheikh Saleh Abdulla Kamel, Chairman of ABG, expressed his pleasure at ABG obtaining the investment grade rating from S&P, the reputed international rating agency. "This is the first time that ABG is being rated so we consider it is an excellent achievement for the Group. The rating follows the successful private placement and public offering of ABG in 2006 when a total amount of $1 billion was raised in the transactions and will enable the Group to position itself in the international market in terms of expansion and growth," he added.
Adnan Ahmed Yousuf, President and Chief Executive of ABG, said that the securing of this good rating has enabled us to fulfil the promise made to our shareholders and customers to transform the Group from a regional bank to an international group that is managed in accordance with the practices prevalent internationally in respect of professional standards. This complements the strong foundation that ABG has built for itself, he added.
Albaraka Banking Group offers retail, corporate and investment banking and treasury services strictly in accordance with the principles of the Sharia. The authorised capital of ABG is $1.5 billion while the total equity amounts to about $1 billion. The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units in 10 countries which in turn provide their services through more than 230 branches. These banking units are Banque Al Baraka D'Algerie, Algeria; Al Amin Bank, Bahrain; Al Baraka 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 Saudi Al Tunisi, Tunisia; Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, Turkey and Al Baraka Bank, Pakistan.