Mumtalakat rejects mismanagement claims as 2014 profit rises

Bahrain sovereign fund CEO denies accusations by parliamentarians of poor management

The head of Bahrain sovereign fund Mumtalakat has rebutted allegations made by some parliamentarians that the fund has been financially mismanaged, pointing yesterday to increased earnings as proof of its performance.

The fund, which holds stakes in Bahraini companies including Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Gulf Air and Batelco, posted a 10.8 per cent increase in net profit in 2014 as higher revenue outpaced a rise in impairments. Gulf sovereign wealth funds are facing growing pressure to prove they are wisely investing national reserves, as lower oil prices force governments to consider cutbacks to infrastructure programmes and generous state subsidies.

Earlier this year Bahrain’s parliament launched a probe of Mumtalakat, looking at alleged administrative violations at the fund after an audit report revealed irregularities at Bahraini state companies.

The numbers speak

“I let the numbers speak for themselves. These are audited financial statements which show what we have achieved,” said Mahmood Al Kooheji, chief executive of Mumtalakat.

“At the moment, they [parliamentarians] are basing their views on their own opinions. We are happy to be putting the numbers on the table and letting people see our performance. That is the beauty of transparency.” Mumtalakat made a net profit of 91.6 million Bahraini dinars (Dh892.5 million, $243 million) in 2014 versus 82.7 million in the previous year, which Kooheji attributed to improved performances by Alba, Batelco and National Bank of Bahrain in particular.

It is the fund’s second positive year after it ended a five-year loss-making run, having been weighed down by a real estate crash, an Arab Spring-inspired uprising in Bahrain and the struggles of Gulf Air. The airline continues to post losses, although Kooheji said these had narrowed to around 60 million dinars in 2014 from just under 100 million the previous year.

The better portfolio company performances, which boosted Mumtalakat’s revenue by 10.9 per cent to 1.22 billion dinars, offset a 64.5 per cent jump in impairment losses to 34.4 million.

Kooheji said impairments related to the usual revaluation of Mumtalakat’s assets, without specifying which assets.