For Immediate Release	                                                       July 16th, 2001


TAIB BANK REPORTS US$ 6.16 MILLION
NET PROFIT FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2001


TAIB Bank E.C., the Bahrain-based Investment  Bank,  has announced a net profit of US$ 6.16 million for the first six months of 2001. 

In his statement, Mr Iqbal G. Mamdani, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Despite the continuous major downward corrections in the capital markets in the six months of the current year, I am pleased to announce that the Bank has achieved a first-half net profit of US$ 6.16 million. Earnings per share, for the current year upto end-June 2001, stands at 6 cents on a paid-up capital base of approximately US$ 102 million. The corresponding earnings figure for June 2000 was 8 cents per share"

"TAIB Bank has been able to withstand the turbulence of the equity markets by a judicious asset allocation structure in a declining interest rate scenario, as a result of which income from our Trading Activities contributed significantly to our earnings. Total Operating Income  for the 6 months ended June 2001 was US$ 17.3 million, of which US$ 16.6 million or 96%, was non-interest income, up from 89 % for the whole of 2000. Income from Trading Activities stood at US$ 11.46 million, 72% higher than the level of US$ 6.67 million for the corresponding period last year, despite the down-turn in the markets" Mr. Mamdani added, and emphasised that the leverage ratio of the Bank, as at June 2001, at  2.58,  is at a comfortably healthy level.

"TAIB’s family of Funds stands at 10  and 5 of these Funds have performed better than the comparitive benchmark indices in 2001. Notably, the TAIB Thames Fund (an FTSE 100 - related Fund targetting absolute returns),  had a return of 5.3% for the first half year, which translates to a yearly return of 10.6 %, while the TAIB Income Fund achieved an annualised return of 5.6%. It is our expectation that these Funds will perform well in comparative terms during the remaining period of 2001 also." 

"I am also happy to announce that in June 2001, Capital Intelligence retained the investment grade rating levels of the Bank at  BBB- (triple B minus) and A3", concluded Mr Mamdani.


TAIB Bank E.C., an international Investment Bank based in Bahrain and listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, conducts its business in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and in the regional markets of the Gulf, the Indian Sub-continent, Turkey and Central Asia.


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For more information, please contact the press coordinator:

Vivian Jamal :  534485 (Direct)
E-mail:   vivian@taib.com