It is listed on three stock exchanges in the GCC, including the Bahrain Bourse, Boursa Kuwait and Dubai Financial Market (DFM), where it is one of the most liquid and actively traded stocks.

For the first six months of 2019 ended 30 June 2019, it reported a 21.9 percent increase in revenues reaching $163.5m, compared with $134.1m in the first half of 2018. For the second quarter of 2019, revenues rose 34.4 percent to $92.9m versus $69.1m in the second quarter of last year.

GFH played a key role in the creation of the First Energy Bank, the world’s first Islamic investment bank focusing on the energy sector. It also established various cross-border entities including Khaleeji Commercial Bank in Bahrain, QInvest in Qatar, Arab Finance House in Lebanon, First Leasing Bank in Bahrain, Asia Finance Bank in Malaysia, and Gulf Holding Company in Kuwait.

Moreover, it has funded and developed large real estate and infrastructure projects in the GCC, MENA and India, including Bahrain and Tunisia’s Financial Harbours, and Energy Cities in India. It is also the master developer for luxury lifestyle developments such as Royal Ranches of Marrakech in Morocco. The group recently led the revival of the multi-million dollar Villamar project and the development of the Harbour Row project.

In July this year, its subsidiary GFH Capital acquired a Diversified Senior Healthcare Portfolio in partnership with Madison Marquette consisting of six income yielding Senior Healthcare Properties located in California, Washington and Michigan in a deal exceeding $180m in total value.

The bank is widely recognised for its innovative approach in Islamic finance, having been named “Best Islamic Bank-Bahrain” at the Islamic Business & Finance Awards-EMEA in 2018 and “Best Islamic Financial Group” from Global Brands Magazine.

While GFH initially focused on the Middle East, North Africa and India, it has diversified its holdings across the US, UK and Turkey to pursue emerging opportunities.