Bahrain's Sakana records healthy Q1 profit

Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions CEO R Lakshmanan.

Bahrain-based Islamic mortgage provider Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions has announced a US $650,000 (BHD 245,000) profit for the Q1 2009, a 126% increase on Q1 2008, according to a company statement released yesterday.

Sakana also revealed a 98% increase in total assets from $55.8 million in March 2008 to $109 million in March 2009. During this period Sakana’s mortgage book grew by 81% to stand at $88.3 million, the statement said.

The company’s CEO R Lakshmanan said he was delighted that the firm was remaining profitable despite the credit crunch and a reduction in real estate transactions.

“Since the start of the crisis the value of transactions has reduced and with the continued reduction in volume this will have an impact on future results with cost of funds increasing significantly, resulting in lesser margins,” he said.

“We would like to thank the Central Bank of Bahrain for recently clarifying that banks exposure to Sakana will be considered as exposure to financial institution. We expect this may favourably impact our ability to raise funds from banks.

“As we move forward in 2009 Sakana is still providing financing for residents up to 80% of property value and up to 30 years term.”

Sakana is a 50:50 joint venture between Bahrain’s BBK bank and Shamil Bank.