May 12, 2011Commenting on the results, Mr.Hussein Al-Uzri, Chairman and President of TBI said:
“I am proud of TBI’s financial results for 2010 and its return to record profits. Our business fundamentals are strong and our significant participation in the Iraqi economy puts us in a unique position to ride the wave of growth throughout the country. In addition, our internal reforms have prepared us to scale new heights.”
Chairman’s Statement
This performance was achieved despite a significant fall of$3.5 billion, or 31%, in LC volumes in 2010 and a$408m, or 37%, drop in LG volumes. TBI’s Investment & Treasury Department investment strategy and careful management of the Bank’s investible assets was a major driver in achieving record profits in 2010.
Despite continued success, TBI maintains its policy of prudence in its business undertakings and has again bolstered its balance sheet, with assets at the end of 2010 standing at$15 billion. This has led to management receiving approval from the Board to increase its authorized capital to$1.2 billion, a 41% increase on 2009, with total shareholders’ equity now standing at$1.5 billion. This is a very significant uplift on TBI’s capitalization of$102mat its founding in 2003.
The Iraqi dinar has remained remarkably stable, and is likely to continue to do so as attested recently by the International Monetary Fund which stated that the currency was close to fair value at the beginning of 2011. The core inflation rate, according to data released by the CBI, rose to 5.5% in February 2011, which fares well against the MENA average. Global investors who are keen to invest in the promising economy ofIraq have voted with their pockets by buying theIraq 2028 Eurobond and driving its yield to 6.8% from 8.6% a year earlier, well below many emerging and even European sovereign bond yields.
TBI’s retail network continues to grow organically in line with our mission to have branch representation in all ofIraq’s 18 provinces. 2010 saw the opening of five branches, bringing the total number to 14. TBI plans to open three new branches inIraq in 2011, including a branch at Baghdad Airport. We have further plans to open international branches inLondon and Beirut this year.
Investment opportunities are plentiful and talks concerning privatization schemes are underway, with IPP opportunities being offered to ease the electricity shortages. The government has increased its spending budget for 2011 by 16% over the 2010 budget and the forecasted average oil price for 2011 may mean a surplus in reality.
The Investment & Treasury Department has managed the growth of TBI’s investment portfolio in 2010. It has taken a strategic policy of diversifying our investments into mostly highly liquid investments such as CBI Deposits, Treasury Bills andIraq 2028 Eurobonds. We are also selectively pursuing investments in less liquid, but higher yielding and economically beneficial private equity assets. Since August 2010, more than 10 private equity deals have gone through our due diligence process, with one deal already signed, marking a milestone in TBI’s business strategy.
Our Foreign Exchange Bureaus opened, during 2010, as a pilot project within a few branches and their service to our customers were well received and successful. Further openings are planned for 2011.
TBI’s Credit Portfolio grew 4% in 2010 to$2.1 billion, with growth in private sector loans and advances surpassing growth in advances to the public sector. The private sector represented 41% of the gross loans and advances made in 2010, reaffirming TBI’s commitment to developing the sector.
TBI recognizes the importance ofIraq’s banking sector as one of the critical pillars of the Iraqi economy and TBI continues to facilitate its growth by processing LCs under$4mthrough Private Commercial Banks. TBI’s training and development programs further complement this strategy by not only targeting internal employees, but also staff at Ministries and Private Banks at its own expense.
TBI’s technological infrastructure saw a massive leap forward in 2010, with the deployment of the Misys Equation system across the whole branch network inIraq. This has allowed senior management at headquarters to oversee and communicate with branch operations nationally. The Equation system integrates the Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Trade Finance and Treasury divisions into a single cutting edge platform, which facilitates accounting, audit, control and managerial needs. This has significantly improved management of customer transactions, reduced service time and substantially reduced operational risk within TBI.
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