Amãna Bank gets capital boost from ICD

Amãna Bank Chairman Osman Kassim exchanging agreements with ICD CEO Khaled Al Aboodi at the 42nd Annual Meeting of IDB Governors in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Amãna Bank has received confirmation from IB Growth Fund (Labuan) LLP, a subsidiary of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), to participate in the Bank’s forthcoming rights issue.

ICD is a multilateral development financial institution and is part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, who is currently a strategic shareholder of the bank with a 9.62 percent stake. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has granted approval for the said parties in conjunction to hold up to a maximum of 29.99 percent of voting shares of the bank.

The bank signed an investment agreement with ICD in Jeddah on the sidelines of the 42 Annual Meeting of IDB Governors, which was attended by over 2,000 participants belonging to 57 member countries to discuss challenges and opportunities facing IDB Group member countries. Commenting on this strategic investment, Amãna Bank’s Chairman Osman Kassim who was in Jeddah for the signing said “Amãna Bank is truly honoured to have the confidence of ICD, resulting in this strategic shareholding. This partnership will be a pillar of strength in our journey towards promoting the values of Islamic Banking. Belonging to a non-member country of IDB, we are happy that IDB have made an exception on investing in Amana Bank at its inception in 2011, and now ICD too making this investment is sincerely appreciated and we are committed to further strengthen this relationship.”

Also sharing his views CEO of ICD, Khaled Al Aboodi said, “This strategic initiative reflects ICD’s continuous effort to play a catalyst role in the promotion of Islamic finance, private sector development and regional cooperation in South Asia.”

According to the rights issue announcement, the bank, subject to CSE and shareholder approval, plans to issue 1,250,695,267 new shares at Rs 3.80 per share in a ratio of one new ordinary share for every one ordinary share held. With the participation of ICD along with other local and foreign investors, full subscription to the issue will result in the Bank’s Stated Capital surpassing Rs 10 billion, thereby crossing the regulatory capital requirement set for 2018 well in advance. Amãna Bank is the country’s first Licensed Commercial Bank to operate in complete harmony with the globally growing non-interest based banking model. With the mission of enabling growth and enriching lives, the bank reaches out to its customers through a growing network of 28 branches and 3800+ ATM access points and has introduced a bouquet of customer conveniences such as Internet and mobile banking, debit card with SMS alerts, Saturday banking, extended banking hours, 24×7 cash deposit machines and banking units exclusively for ladies.

Fitch Ratings, in October 2016, affirmed the bank’s National Long Term Rating of BB(lka) with a Stable Outlook. The bank was recognized as the Best ‘Up-and-Comer’ Islamic Bank of the World by ‘Global Finance Magazine’ at the 18th Annual World’s Best Banks Award Ceremony held in Washington DC, USA. The Bank was also bestowed the coveted title ‘Islamic Finance Entity of the Year 2016’ at the inaugural Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia Awards Ceremony.

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk