In just the last month the chairman of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the country’s oldest public company and one of the most consistent performers among the region’s banks, has made a number of significant moves. NBK offered to buy out remaining minority shareholders in AlWatany Bank of Egypt of which it already owns just over 94%. November also saw the final approval from Turkey’s competition board for the purchase of a 40% stake in Turkish Bank for US$160m.
NBK’s investments cover a geography which includes the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. NBK Capital has offices in Kuwait, Istanbul and Dubai.
NBK was established in 1973 as Kuwait Real Estate Bank in response to the intense property development and reconstruction trend, and for the growing need for a bank, which could specialise in the real estate sector.
Established with a US$312.8m capital base and as the only specialised real estate bank in the country, the bank provided developers, contractors as well as individual property owners with banking facilities, and a variety of products and services to conduct their business and complete their projects. The bank is now one of the leading banks in the Middle East, with branches across the world including New York, London, Paris, Singapore and Shanghai. With capital resources of over US$2.2bn, it ranks in the top 300 banks of the world, and fifth among Arab banks. In October, NBK reported net profits of US$790m for the first nine months of 2007, a 16% increase from last year.
Al-Bahar is also a dealer of heavy construction and electrical power generation equipment for Caterpillar International in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. His UAE Caterpillar International machines have been crucial to Dubai’s US$4.1bn airport upgrade.
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