| Global Awards for Excellence | ||
| Middle Eastern Regional Awards of Excellence | ||
| Bahrain | Egypt | Iran |
| Jordan | Kuwait | Lebanon |
| Oman | Qatar | Saudi Arabia |
| UAE | ||
 |
Best Bank: Ahli United Bank |
Bahrain’s collection of wholesale banks has hit a point of no return. In 2008, for example, Arab Banking Corporation’s impairment provisions totalled about $1 billion, to help it finish the year with a net loss of $880 million.
Toxic investment losses at Gulf International Bank, another flagship of Bahrain’s wholesale banking sector, reached a total of more than $1 billion over the past two years. Gulf International Bank was the beneficiary of a $4.8 billion bailout this spring as its government shareholders bought its troubled investments. This, together with a new chief executive, has revitalized the institution somewhat.
Bahrain’s crowded banking sector looks set to consolidate. More mergers have been discussed, especially among medium-sized lenders.
Yet for now, Ahli United Bank remains the Gulf state’s best bank. In fact, Ahli United Bank’s Bahrain operation is itself the product of the merger in 2001 of Ahli Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank of Bahrain.
Like GIB and ABC, Ahli United Bank uses its base in Bahrain to conduct a regional business. This geographic diversity is extremely advantageous in such a small country so reliant on financial services and oil revenues. Ahli United Bank also has a network of 19 branches in Bahrain, where it collects more than one-third of the group’s total deposits from more than 140,000 customers.
Ahli United Bank suffered bigger impairment and trading losses in 2008 than in 2007, but this was only around one-10th of the amount written off by ABC and GIB. Annual profits fell slightly, but at least it did not make a loss. The bank’s assets rose a few percentage points but deposits grew by almost one-third.
