Gulf Finance House Has Quarterly Loss on Investments

Gulf Finance House EC, Bahrain’s biggest Islamic investment bank by market value, had a fourth- quarter loss after it made “provisions on investments.”

The bank reported a loss of $10 million compared with net income of $108.8 million in the year-earlier period, the Manama, Bahrain-based bank said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. Gulf Finance House did not provide fourth-quarter earnings per share.

“While the fourth quarter proved challenging, it is important to view our results in the context of the global economic crisis,” Chairman Esam Janahi said in the statement. The bank had an annual profit in “a difficult market.”

Banks in the Middle East are being hurt as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, weakens capital-market activity and batters share prices. Bahrain’s benchmark share index slumped 27 percent in the fourth quarter.

Gulf Finance House’s full-year profit fell 14 percent to $291 million, it said in the statement. Profit in 2007 was boosted by a $84 million one-time gain from the sale of a 60 percent stake in Khaleeji Commercial Bank.

Gulf Finance House has over $1 billion in liquid assets and the bank’s venture capital and private equity business will seek to benefit from opportunities presented by undervalued assets in the region, the statement said.

Gulf Finance House shares have fallen 14 percent this year.

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