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Bahrain based Gulf Finance House (GFH) announced its financial results for the first half of 2014 ended June 30, 2014. GFH reported a net profit of $10.6m for the period compared with $4.2m for the prior year period. The Bank’s consolidated profits rose by 152% in current period compared to the prior year period although an impairment of $10m was conservatively taken. Net profit for the second quarter of 2014 was $9.5m. Total income for the first half of 2014 was $88.2m compared with $24.5m for the same period of the year 2013. Operating expenses for the period were $67.6m. GFH made debt repayments of approximately $7m during the period, representing a reduction of approximately 3.5% of the Bank’s total financing liabilities.

After a decision by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) prohibiting banks from compounding interest, Saudi commercial banks were expected to improve their services. However, the services remained substandard. In their terms and conditions for extending loans, the banks determine the profit rates depending on the size of the loan and the financial position of the customer. You will often see customers waiting in long queues to be served because the banks do not appoint sufficient number of employees to serve customers. The complaints against Saudi commercial banks have become a normal phenomenon. The banks would have improved their services if they had heeded SAMA's instructions.

Emirates have secured a $425 million shariacompliant loan from a group of UAE banks to finance the acquisition of two Airbus A380 aircraft. Emirates used the loan to take delivery of its 50th A380 in Hamburg last month. The aircraft is scheduled to enter into service sometime in early August. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) were the joint book runners and initial mandated lead arrangers in the transaction. Emirates is the largest operator of the superjumbo A380 and have a further 90 on order. The airline’s president, Tim Clark, has previously said he is interested in ordering more of the superjumbos if Airbus is able to manufacture a more fuel efficient “neo” version.

Emirates District Cooling LLC (Emicool) has signed a $245 million 12-year facility with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) which will largely refinance its existing debt and also fund the company’s expansion plans. The refinancing agreement was signed by Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Yagub Al Serkal, Chairman of Emicool, and Dr. Adnan Chilwan, CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank, recently in the presence of Mr. Adib Moubadder, CEO of Emicool, and DIB executives. Mr. Moubadder said that there is a huge potential for growth in the district cooling industry, and as one of the major players, Emicool is looking at investing in infrastructure, which will assist to offer quality products to capture a significant share of the market.

Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House plans to list its upcoming $200 million (Dh734 million) sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. The company said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai bourse to list the Islamic bond. GFH said it plans to use the proceeds from the sukuk to repay current outstanding sukuk of $84 million and undertake business acquisitions for financial consolidation and project development in Bahrain and Dubai. The $200 million sukuk will take place in the coming months and a date will be announced later after the approval by the regulatory authorities.

The community and social initiatives launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority ( DEWA ) are an integral part of its strategy to serve the public good. DEWA is not only concerned with the provision of power and water, but also making efforts to enhance growth and prosperity in Dubai and the UAE through its social programmes and initiatives. Dubai's first Earth Hour was in 2008, and is one of the many initiatives organised by DEWA to raise awareness about the importance of rationalising consumption of energy. Besides, DEWA organised several environmental activities and awareness programmes to mark World Water Day. Moreover, DEWA organises the Consumer Award to encourage customers to reduce their consumption of electricity and water and follow environmentally-friendly practices.

Noor Bank announced the appointment of Damian White as Treasurer in a statement on Sunday. The role entails managing the bank’s trading activities, investment portfolio and the sale of market based treasury products to customers. As Chairman of the Asset and Liability Committee, he is also in charge of asset and liability management of the balance sheet. Previously, White served as Group Treasurer of Al Rajhi Bank, based in Riyadh. Before moving to the Middle East he was associated with the National Australia Bank, Melbourne, as Head of Group Funding, and also operated as the Head of the Funding Desk at Lehman Brothers Treasury, London.

Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) on Sunday announced its collaboration with the World Bank (WB) to begin a research partnership that would be beneficial to the global Islamic banking industry. The partnership's first initiative, part of a planned series of research projects, will be a study examining the risk-management challenges facing Islamic banks, with a particular focus on Musharaka and Mudaraba under the profit-and-loss-sharing system. The project will not only collect data from a number of countries where Musharaka and Mudaraba are being used in banking transactions, but the project will also examine what enabling legal and regulatory environment would be needed to support the adequate risk management of Musharaka and Mudaraba. The research's preliminary findings are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2015.

Saudi Arabia’s plan to open its $531 billion stock market to foreigners is prompting analysts’ speculation that Islamic bonds will be next. Saudi Arabia capital market authority said last week that the stock-market change would take place in the first half (H1) of next year. The move may lead to the country’s inclusion in MSCI indexes, which are used to measure performance by money managers with an estimated $9 trillion of assets. Opening the local-currency sukuk market would give foreign investors access to companies that sold 42 billion riyals ($11.2bn) through a dozen sales in the past year. However, access to the kingdom’s debt market may appeal more to investors wanting to broaden their exposure than to those seeking yield.

The Chairman of Islamic insurer Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. (Takaful) resigned on Tuesday, according to a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse. No explanation was giving for Khadem Al Qubaisi’s resignation. He has been replaced by Vice-Chairman Khamis Buharoon. Nasser M. Al Murr Al Za’abi has filled the vacated board seat, according to a separate statement on the bourse. Last month, Takaful reported a nearly 25 per cent drop in second quarter net profits. The company made Dh15 million in net profits for the three months ending June 30. Takaful said the fall in net profits was largely due to the increase in net claims incurred in the motor line of business. Earlier, Al Qubaisi was reported to have said that Takaful is in the process of obtaining an international financial rating.

Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, Gulf Finance House (GFH), has repaid $25 million to debt holders marking total debt principal payments of $33m so far this year. In a statement to the Bahrain Bourse, the bank said this represents more than 15pc of its total outstanding facilities. The repayments highlight its ongoing commitment to meeting obligations to debt holders in line with the restructuring terms concluded in 2012 and the subsequent business plan, GFH said. The bank's outstanding facilities today stand at $169m, representing a leverage ratio of close to 0.28.

Islamic banks that previously did not allow their cards to be used to make purchases at tobacco-selling stores have now changed their policy, except for one of the capital’s major banks. However, all Islamic banking institutions still do not allow their debit and credit cards to make payments at liquor stores and bars. The capital’s national Islamic bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), has implemented this only this year and is still strictly prohibiting their clients from using their cards at alcohol-serving locations. Meanwhile, other institutions such as Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) and Al Hilal Bank have more rigorous policies pertaining to the use of their cards at bars, tobacco-selling facilities and casinos. However, there is a loophole since customers can use the cards in places that serve alcohol but are not registered as bars or liquor stores.

Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced a net profit of $143m for the first half of 2014. While balance sheet items increased moderately: total assets increased by 5%, total financing and investments by 5%, customer accounts by 5% and total equity by 3% at the end of June 2014 compared to the end of December 2013. With regard to the results of the second quarter of the year 2014 compared with the results of the first quarter of the same year, total operating income increased by 9% to reach $232m, while net operating income increased by a large percentage of 31% to reach $110m, and net income increased by 15% to $76m.

The Gulf banks are fast replacing European lenders in expansion within the Middle East region and into some of the fast growing emerging markets in Asian and Africa in the context of improving health of their balance sheets and strong support from shareholders. Banks from GCC, particularly those from the UAE and Qatar are in the forefront of overseas expansion.First Gulf Bank (FGB), for example, announced last month that it has a new representative office in South Korea as part of plans to expand its presence in Asia Pacific. Qatari banks have been seeking overseas expansion to cut dependence on local markets and access trade flows across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Doha Bank is expanding its presence in Hong Kong, India and Saudi Arabia.

An increasing number of Kuwaiti lenders are moving away from traditional banking in a bid to tap into a booming market for Sharia-compliant financial products in the region - a move that could soon see Islamic financing overtake conventional banking in the Gulf state. Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) is the latest to unveil plans to turn into a fully-fledged Islamic institution. There are already five other Kuwaiti Islamic banks; Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Boubyan Bank, Al Ahli United Bank, Kuwait International Bank, and Warba Bank, which was established in 2010. This compares with four conventional banks. Kuwait’s Islamic banking assets grew by 8.7% during the first nine months of 2013, reaching KD22.5bn ($79.7bn), while Islamic financing grew by 11.2% to hit KD13.5bn ($47.8bn) during the same period.

Al Rajhi Bank posted a fourth successive quarterly profit decline as its second-quarter earnings fell 8.2 per cent year-on-year, with Saudi Arabia’s largest listed lender hit again by higher provisioning. The bank said it made 1.95 billion Saudi riyals in the three months ending June 30, compared with 2.12bn riyals in the same period a year earlier, citing an increase in total operating expenses for the drop without elaborating. Despite the decline, Al Rajhi’s net profit figure was in line with analyst forecasts, with a poll conducted by Reuters expecting an average profit of 1.97bn riyals for the quarter. Al Rajhi’s quarterly profit decline stands against the positive earnings performance reported by most other Saudi lenders.

Saudi Arabia’s plan to open its $531 billion stock market to foreigners is prompting speculation that Islamic bonds will be next. The government’s approval of overseas financial institutions to trade equities may herald a similar relaxation of rules in the local-currency primary debt market. Opening the local-currency sukuk market would give foreign investors access to companies that sold 42 billion riyals ($11.2 billion) through a dozen sales in the past year. That’s more than three times the amount of dollar Islamic bond sales, which are open to overseas buyers. However, access to the kingdom’s debt market may appeal more to investors wanting to broaden their exposure than to those seeking yield since lots of Saudi debt prices very tightly.

Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has announced the appointment of Ehab Eshehawi (pictured) as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Eshehawi has more than 25 years’ experience in managing Technology and Operations in the USA, Europe, Asia and Mideast, including 14 years’ experience in the US with Fortune 500 Companies, and 15 years’ experience with international banking institutions. He spent the last 15 years with Arab Banking Corporation and Ahli United Bank focused on supporting banking mergers and acquisitions. Eshehawi is holder of a Bachelor degree in Business Administration, minor in Business Computers Information Systems, and a MBA from the USA.

The Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs is warning Saudis seeking to fulfil their zakat duty during the holy month of Ramadan against donating funds to those who solicit money via social networking tools. Those who wish to donate money are encouraged to give to the more than 700 licensed charitable organisations in the kingdom, to social security offices or to organisations involved in the Al-Khair al-Shamel (Global Goodness) project, the ministry said. These groups document donations in a transparent fashion under the state's auspices, it added. In Saudi Arabia, cash donation boxes are not allowed in mosques, markets and malls, as cash donations are accepted only at banks.

Latham & Watkins advised Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily), a telecommunications operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in connection with a $200m murabaha facility made available by Export Development Canada. The facility will be used by Mobily to purchase eligible goods and services supplied to it by affiliates and subsidiaries of Alcatel Lucent S.A., including Alcatel Lucent, Canada Inc. This transaction represents Mobily’s third ECA-backed Islamic financing following on from its $646m murabaha facility with the support of Exportkreditnämnden and Finnvera plc in August 2013. In 2014 Latham & Watkins advised Mobily in connection with its $561m murabaha facilities made available by Exportkreditnämnden and Finnvera plc.