Unicorn Investment Bank Announces 2008 Net Profit of US$35

Unicorn Investment Bank BSC (Unicorn) announced a record 2008 operating profit of US$73.8 million before impairments and fair value write-downs, an increase of 46% from US$50.4 million in 2007, it said in a statement on Mar 16. Net profit after impairments and fair value write-downs was US$35.0 million while earnings per share were 18.7 US cents. It said the results are the culmination of a strong year for Unicorn, in which the bank also further strengthened its capital and funding base. In January, it said the bank successfully closed a three-year syndicated commodity murabahah facility that was 'significantly oversubscribed' to raise US$125 million. It added that as a 'very conservatively-run' Islamic bank, Unicorn has no exposure to the toxic assets that have caused major losses to be incurred across the global banking industry. It added that the Bank has also deliberately avoided the real estate and listed equity markets and so has avoided the market losses that are affecting some institutions.Any source