ABC Islamic Bank today announced that its net profit for the first half of 2012 was US$4 million compared to US$5.1 million for the same period in 2011 which included a non-recurring one-off revenue item of US$1.3 million. Net profit for the second quarter was US$2.4 million compared to US$1.6 million in the first quarter of 2012 representing a 50 % quarter on quarter increase, compared to US$2.1 million for the second quarter 2011 representing a 14.3 % increase over the same period last year. Total operating income amounted to US$4 million compared to US$ 3.4 million for the first quarter of 2012. Operating expenses were US$1.4 million compared to US$1.3 million. Shareholders’ equity at 30 June 2012 stood at US$231.8 million, compared to US$229.3 million at the end of the first quarter. The bank’s capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 26.5%, predominantly Tier 1, which totalled 26%. ABC Islamic Bank’s total assets stood at US$1.047 billion at the end of the half year compared to US$1.017 at the end of the first quarter. Commenting on the results, Mr. Naveed Khan, Managing Director of ABC Islamic Bank said, ”We are pleased to see growth picking up in line with the region, particularly that our increased profitability this quarter comes from core fee and margin income on new transactions. We are also delighted that ABC Islamic Bank was recently the first institution in Bahrain and the GCC to receive a Fiduciary Rating by the Islamic International Rating Agency. We take pride that these ratings are on a national scale A+ (Single A Plus) for long term rating and A-1 (A-One) for short term rating. Likewise, our international rating is assessed at A-/A-2 (Single A Minus/A-Two) for short term rating. These ratings reaffirm the high level of transparency in the bank and its financial strength.”