Burgan Bank

History

Burgan Bank is a subsidiary of KIPCO (Kuwait Projects Company). The youngest and most dynamic commercial bank in the State of Kuwait, established in 1977, Burgan Bank has acquired a leading role in the retail, corporate and investment banking sector through innovative product offers and technologically advanced delivery channels. It has continuously improved its performance over the years by applying an expanded revenue structure, good asset quality, diversified funding sources and a strong capital base. The adoption of state-of-the-art services and ground-breaking technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market.

Corporate StrategyWe embarked upon the Bright Future Project in late 2006 which encompassed a 360 degrees approach that underpins our long-range objectives, customer satisfaction, leveraging process and technology, and nurturing our staff. The Bright Future Project was conceptualized to leverage three key pillars of staff competency, technological advancement and customer satisfaction. We introduced the Branch Network Strategy in 2006, which was completed in Q1 2008. This is a new concept in retail banking in the region wherein the specific banking needs of different strata of customers are met at three different classifications of branches. Under this strategy, branches were deployed into types that reflect the demands of the area in which they are located. While our ‘Solutions Branches’ focus on offering customized advice key to making well-informed financial decisions (be it investments, loans etc) to our middle/higher income customers, our ‘Financial Center’ branches also service private banking (HNIs), mass affluent (Premier) and institutional clients. The third category of branches – ‘Transactions Branches’ – cater to the basic banking needs of customers who are more transaction oriented as well as our corporate clients (small and medium sized businesses). We also incorporated branch designs that differentiate us from the competition. Products and Services• We offer a range of services from retail banking and corporate banking to wealth management advisory, investment banking and private banking. We offer flexible loans that give you higher amounts and save you on interest payments; credit cards that give you cash back every time you spend, and the best deposit and salary transfer prize-draws in Kuwait with the highest winners-to-depositors ratio.

• We recently introduced our Premier Banking Services which offer a range of exclusive services including specialized branches and personal banking executives to counsel financial needs, convenient online and digital banking channels, and a host of value savings features such as the Burgan Platinum Card and wealth management advisory.

• We are also the first Bank in Kuwait to accomplish complete EMV compliance. We introduced our secure and multi-featured EMV-Chip enabled credit and debit cards recently to protect customers’ interests.

• Superior customer service: We monitor our service standards religiously to ensure quick response to your queries and quick resolution to your problems. A new division – the Customer Experience Management division – was introduced in 2007 exclusively committed to align the Bank to become more customer-focused. We also launched the Customer First Initiative – which underlines the processes and systems required to further evolve from a products-focused institution to a customer-focused institution and is based on our customer segmentation management program.

Reach

• At present we enjoy a wide reach through our network of 20 branches and close to 100 ATMs making ours one of the widest ATM networks in the GCC. Industry Recognition

• We were recertified and are still the only bank in the GCC with ISO 9001:2000 certification across all banking businesses.

• We also have to our credit the distinction of being the only bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Recognition Award, 10th year in succession in recognition of the high level of quality maintained in international funds transfer operations.

• Our commitment to uphold best practices was recognized when we won the region’s first Hawkamah-UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award 2007 that acknowledges our steady endeavours towards diligent compliance to corporate governance policies and global best practices.

• We were selected to the shortlist of the top three organizations for the Marketing Excellence Category of the coveted Middle East Business Achievement Awards 2007. Having contended with close to a 100 entries across the region, we emerged as the only banking and financial institution to qualify to the shortlist following a rigorous assessment.

• In early 2007, we were acknowledged as the ‘Best Local Private Bank’ in Kuwait in the Fourth Annual Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2007, reflective of the high standards of wealth management services offered.

• Further, for two consecutive years, we were conferred the COMMERZBANK Recognition Award, for maintaining high standards of quality, efficiency and reliability while processing Euro currency transactions as well.

• Our steadily improving financial performance was acknowledged by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services which revised its outlook on the Bank from stable to positive in addition to affirming its 'BBB+' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings on the Bank.

• Further, Moody’s Investor Services also upgraded our FSR rating from D+ to C- recently. Capital Intelligence too acknowledged the improved financial profile and upgraded our Financial Strength Ratings from BBB to A-, the Foreign Currency Short Term rating as A2 and the Foreign Currency Long Term rating from BBB to A-.

Financial Performance

• We recorded a profit of 74.8 million Kuwaiti Dinars for the year 2007, up 34% from 55.7 million Kuwaiti Dinars registered in 2006. This has resulted in strong earnings per share, which is up by 28% at 89.4 Fils.

• During 2007, we witnessed significant growth across various business segments and as a result customer lending shot up by 50% underpinned by a 33% growth in customer deposits.

• Asset quality improved considerably with sharp reduction in non-performing loans leaving a NPL ratio of 1.73% from 3.57% last year.

• The Board of Directors recommended a proposed cash dividend of 60 Fils subject to the approval of the Annual General Assembly, and this represents a yield of 6.2% on the average stock price for 2007.

• With a KD 351 million shareholders equity base, our Basel II capital adequacy ratio stands at 16.5%, strongly positioning the capitalization both by local as well as international standards. These indicators are strongly supportive of our growth strategy to position us as one of the leading banks in Kuwait.

Future Plans

We recently announced plans to buy United Gulf Bank’s holdings in four regional operations for a total of US$ 725 million (KD 194 million). The proposed transaction – which is subject to regulatory approval from the relevant authorities in Kuwait, Bahrain and four other countries – will allow us to become one of the most geographically diversified Kuwaiti commercial banks within the MENA region.

External links

*http://www.burgan.com/