Bahrain Mumtalakat swings to $120m net profit for FY 2021
Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has recorded a net profit of BD45.6 million ($120 million) for FY 2021, its highest since inception, compared to a net loss of BD550.7 million ($1.45 billion) the previous year.
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Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom, has recorded a net profit of BD45.6 million ($120 million) for FY 2021, its highest since inception, compared to a net loss of BD550.7 million ($1.45 billion) the previous year.
A regional heavyweight, Mumtalakat holds stakes in over 50 commercial enterprises in Bahrain with a portfolio spanning across a variety of sectors including industrial manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, real estate, logistics, consumer products, healthcare and education.
Announcing its consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021, Mumtalakat said its standalone financial results for 2021 represent solely the activities of the sovereign wealth fund as an entity.
Furthermore, Mumtalakat also paid dividends to the shareholder of BD20 million as a contribution to the national budget.
Dividend income received during the year was BD63.3 million compared to BD49.2 million for 2020, and profits before impairments amounted to BD71.3 million compared to BD68.3 million the previous year.
Mumtalakat Group’s financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021, have rebounded robustly from the previous year which was impacted by the Covid-19 global pandemic.
The Group results represent the activities of Mumtalakat and that of its portfolio companies which recorded a consolidated net profit of BD329 million in 2021 compared to a consolidated net loss of BD528 million in 2020.
According to Mumtalakat, the significant improvement in net results was mainly due to the improved operational performance of Alba, a principal company of the group, and lower impairment losses.
The group's revenue increased by 34% from BD1.6 billion in 2020 to BD2.2 billion in 2021 primarily driven by higher LME prices, it stated.
On the solid performance, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure and Chairman of Mumtalakat said: "Our portfolio companies witnessed a remarkable recovery during the 2021, which in turn led to the remarkable enhancement of the financial results of Mumtalakat Group and contributed to the kingdom’s economic growth, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad and in line with the objectives of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, under the guidance and supervision of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board."
CEO Khalid Al Rumaihi said: "Mumtalakat recorded the highest net profit since its inception, which is a result of the continued support from His Majesty the King, and in line with the economic policies driven by the Government of Bahrain and spearheaded by HRH, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister."
Al Rumaihi stressed that the implementation of Mumtalakat’s new investment strategy, which focuses on the active ownership model to extract value from the company’s portfolio assets through an active management approach, effective board representation, and provision of strategic expertise, led to this unprecedented record result.
One of its key portfolio company, Alba had registered a record net profit of BD452 million compared to a net profit of BD9.8 million in the prior year. This increase in net profit was primarily due to higher LME prices of aluminum in 2021 and the increase in production and sales resulting from its line 6 expansion, said the statement from the Bahrain wealth fund.
In addition, the aviation industry experienced modest recovery due to lifting of travel restrictions which resulted in an increase in Gulf Air ticket sales, it stated.
The group's principal associates, National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) continued to report strong results. The group’s share of profits from Batelco and NBB for the year were BD22.6 million and BD21.9 million respectively compared to BD20.3 million and BD10.8 million in 2020.-TradeArabia News Service
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