Julphar First in UAE Thanks To Promising 2018 Performance

Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates-Monday, April 2nd 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

Julphar, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa, has been ranked as the number one pharmaceutical company in the UAE by IMS Health February 2018 panel, reflecting a strong double digit sales growth versus 2017.

Julphar 2017 audited results were announced following a Board of Directors’ meeting, which was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Board of Julphar.

Jerome Carle, General Manager of Julphar, said, “Firstly, I wish to express my gratitude to our shareholders, our 5000 employees across the world, our customers and our partners for their continued support.

“We are off to a strong start in 2018. We have reached the number one position in the UAE, our new management team is now fully on board and we have just launched several new products in key therapeutical area such as cardiovascular.

“Furthermore, our expansion plans are on track, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Africa, where we are making inroads in a number of key markets. We are building up a solid pipeline with the planned launch of 25 new products in the UAE this year alone and almost 200 new product registrations expected in the region.

“Given the momentum we are seeing in our new products and recent launches, the operating performance improvements we are driving, we are confident in our ability to deliver our 2018 outlook of double digit growth.”

In 2017, Julphar opened a manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia adding to its overseas production bases in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The SAR 300 million state-of-the-art plant has the capacity to produce 1 billion tablets, 300 million capsules and 30 million bottles of syrups and suspensions per year. Last month, Julphar Saudi Arabia was granted Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) approval by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).

Contacts

Julphar

Chris Goward, Head of Communications, +971582633997

chris.goward@julphar.net 


Permalink : http://aetoswire.com/news/julphar-first-in-uae-thanks-to-promising-2018-performance/en

Three Leading Animal Health Companies Join Hands to Launch World-Class Vaccine Joint Venture Targeting Foot-and-Mouth Disease in China

• Boehringer Ingelheim, KMOH, and ZNWT establish a vaccine joint venture targeting foot-and-mouth disease control and prevention in China

• The vaccine manufacturing project is located at the Airport New City in Xi’an with a total investment of 840 million yuan (around €108 million)

• The venture will introduce the world’s leading vaccine technology and expertise against foot-and-mouth disease in a bid to shape the future market in China


XI’AN, China-Monday, March 26th 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Shaanxi Meili Omni-Honesty Animal Health Co., Ltd., China’s world-class vaccine company targeting foot-and-mouth disease in swine, was launched on March 24th with a groundbreaking ceremony held at the Airport New City in Xi’an, capital city of Shaanxi Province. Meili Omni-Honesty is a joint venture between Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading global pharmaceutical company and the world’s second-largest animal health company, Beijing KangMu Omni-Honesty Animal Health Products Co., Ltd. (KMOH), and China Agricultural Vet. Bio. Science and Technology Co., Ltd.(ZNWT). The total investment amounts to 840 million yuan (around €108 million). The venture will focus on research, development and manufacture of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease on a site that will answer the latest BSL3+ biosafety standards. Production is expected to start in 2021. (The venture is subject to regulatory approval.)

“China plays a key role in Boehringer Ingelheim’s global business. With the establishment of Meili Omni-Honesty, we will bring world-class vaccine technology to China and join hands with our partners to foster local R&D and production so as to serve the Chinese market. It again demonstrates our commitment of being ‘in China, for China’,” shared Hubertus von Baumbach, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors at Boehringer Ingelheim. “Over a thousand years ago, the ancient Silk Road connected Xi’an to Lyon. Today, Lyon, where Boehringer Ingelheim’s R&D hub for state-of-the-art technology in vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease is located, and Xi’an are connected again in the Meili Omni-Honesty project” According to Hubertus von Baumbach, Boehringer Ingelheim, as a global leader in animal health, hopes to help facilitate the growth of China’s animal health industry and develop its talents. The company is committed to contributing to the country’s animal health and food safety sectors.

In January 2017, with the acquisition of Merial, Boehringer Ingelheim further strengthened its position as a global leader in animal health. The three companies involved in the Meili Omni-Honesty project all bring unique expertise to help fight foot-and-mouth disease in China. Boehringer Ingelheim is the world’s leader in Veterinary Public Health, with state-of-the-art technology for vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease. ZNWT is approved by the Ministry of Agriculture to produce the full set of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease. KMOH has extensive market channels across the country, as well as rich marketing experience.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious disease that currently threatens and hinders the development of the Chinese livestock industry. It poses a big threat to the health of cloven-hoofed animals such as pigs, cattle and sheep. China National Foot and Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory under Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute is the authorized agency to identify and confirm foot-and-mouth disease. Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute is also an authorized research institute in China to develop vaccines against foot-and-mouth virus.

“ZNWT is relying on Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute for technical support and is playing a leading role in prevention and control of animal diseases in China,” said Zhang Yunde, Chairman and General Manager of ZNWT. He concluded that the collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim and KMOH will lead to unprecedented advance and breakthrough in disease prevention and control, vaccine technology and market growth. The new joint venture will tap into advantages and cooperation of the three companies to shape the swine vaccine market for foot-and-mouth disease in China.

“Foot-and-mouth disease in swine is an epidemic that has a significant impact on animal husbandry and food safety. It is highly contagious and has a high mortality rate. The market is in urgent need of vaccines featuring the world’s top-level technology,” said Yuan Ximin, Chairman of Shaanxi Meili Omni-Honesty Animal Health Co., Ltd. “I believe this project will drive transformation and upgrading of China’s animal vaccine industry, and it will also help improve economic benefits for Chinese farmers.” Yuan also shared that the Airport New City in Xi’an was chosen for the Meili Omni-Honesty project because of its policy and location advantages. The Shaanxi Pilot Free Trade Zone was formally approved in 2017, bringing new opportunities for the Airport New City. This is the only free trade zone approved in northwest China, and the core area to lead Xi’an growth. The Meili Omni-Honesty project will promote development of the bio-pharmaceutical industry chain at the Airport New City and attract more healthcare players to settle there.

Please click on the link for ‘Notes to Editors’ and ‘References’: https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/joint-venture-targeting-foot-and-mouth-disease-china


Contacts

Boehringer Ingelheim
Corporate Communications
Media Contact - Animal Health
Matthias Kagerbauer
+49 6132 – 77 2356
Fax: +49 6132 – 77 6601
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com


Permalink : http://aetoswire.com/news/three-leading-animal-health-companies-join-hands-to-launch-world-class-vaccine-joint-venture-targeting-foot-and-mouth-disease-in-china/en

VINCI Energies Switches to Rimini Street Support for Its Oracle Database and Oracle E-Business Suite Application

Leading performance and energy efficiency company in France frees up internal resources and diverts support savings to fund business growth initiatives


LAS VEGAS -Friday, March 30th 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of enterprise software products and services, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software products, today announced that VINCI Energies, a leading performance and energy efficiency company in France, has realized significant savings and gained premium level enterprise support by switching to Rimini Street for maintenance of its Oracle Database and Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) systems. By making this switch from vendor support, VINCI Energies was able to save more than €500K in annual support fees, which enabled the company to invest in its future platform direction and free up IT resources to accelerate numerous strategic projects.

Quality of Service “a World of Difference”

VINCI Energies is a global organization comprised of 1,600 business units across 52 countries, all focused on helping public sector and business clients boost the reliability, safety and efficiency of their energy, transport and communications infrastructure, factories and buildings. The company is heavily reliant on its Oracle Database system and customized EBS application, but an increasing number of service and quality of support issues with the vendor triggered the company to review its software support and IT optimization options.

One example of the challenges VINCI Energies experienced with vendor support was a problem that arose due to VINCI Energies’ system reaching workload capacity. The company was at peak usage, and once a week they had to restart their system resulting in two hours of down time during business hours. While a ticket was raised with Oracle, they were unable to resolve the issue. After four weeks of back and forth with the vendor, VINCI Energies decided to pay Oracle to send a consultant onsite to try to fix the problem. This was an expensive approach as onsite consulting was not covered in their support agreement. While the onsite consultant was able to pin-point the issue, VINCI Energies questioned why this could not have been resolved with Oracle support over the phone. In response to this question, the company was told they had only “basic support,” and if they wanted better support, they would need to pay more.

“We became increasingly unhappy with the state of our enterprise support, and opted to explore alternatives outside of the software vendor,” said Julien Viala, director of IT Infrastructure, VINCI Energies. “What we have experienced to date with Rimini Street is a world of difference from what we experienced in the past – for example, we do not have to pay extra to receive better, faster support as we did with the vendor. And because Rimini Street supports all of our customizations, at no extra cost, we no longer have to pause before raising a support ticket to determine if the issue is based on vanilla code or one of our own customizations – this has lifted a huge burden off our shoulders.”

According to Rimini Street data from over 2,300 clients signed to date, 85% of all critical Priority 1 cases are related to a company’s customization to the software. Traditional software vendor support explicitly excludes support for software customizations, forcing customers to self-support their own customizations or outsource this support to an external consultant – adding to overall IT spend and draining internal resources.

As with all Rimini Street clients, VINCI Energies was assigned a primary support engineer (PSE) with an average of 15 years’ experience, and the company now enjoys a premium level of service compared to the call-center level support model provided by the vendor. Rimini Street has nearly 450 PSE’s around the world, who provide support 24/7 365 days a year, and a guaranteed service level agreement of 15 minute response time for all critical cases.

Advice to CIOs: “Stop Thinking the Old Way”

In addition to experiencing a vastly improved, ultra responsive service from Rimini Street, VINCI Energies realized several additional benefits by making the support switch. In addition to freeing up extra funds that were “hiding” in their enterprise software support fees paid to the vendor, the move to Rimini Street also enabled VINCI Energies to free up resources within its IT department to focus on key growth initiatives in the organization. Some of these initiatives included financing a move to the new IPv6 internet protocol with the money they saved on support, and digitizing all of VINCI Energies’ documents for greater efficiency, such as payroll and customer invoices.

“If I could offer any words of advice to a CIO who is fed up with their current enterprise support provider it would be this,” continued Viala. “Stop thinking the old way. Third-party support from Rimini Street is tried, tested and proven. Leverage their expertise and actively evolve and grow your ERP system under their support, and never look back.”

“VINCI Energies’ experience underscores the substantial benefits companies can receive when they move support for their mission-critical systems to Rimini Street, away from the outdated support model provided by the vendor,” said Seth A. Ravin, Rimini Street CEO. “CIOs in France and around the world are challenged every day to demonstrate the value they deliver to their organization. When companies switch to Rimini Street, we enable them to address this challenge by helping to unlock significant funds that they can invest in more strategic initiatives for their business. We continue to see increasing demand in the region, and already support more than 90 organizations with operations in France, helping them strategically optimize cost and maximize the value of their ERP landscape.”

About Rimini Street, Inc.

Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI) is a global provider of enterprise software products and services, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software products. The company has redefined enterprise software support services since 2005 with an innovative, award-winning program that enables licensees of IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and other enterprise software vendors to save up to 90 percent on total support costs. Clients can remain on their current software release without any required upgrades for a minimum of 15 years. Over 1,560 global Fortune 500, midmarket, public sector and other organizations from a broad range of industries currently rely on Rimini Street as their trusted, third-party support provider. To learn more, please visit https://www.riministreet.com, follow @riministreet on Twitter and find Rimini Street on Facebook and LinkedIn. (C-RMNI)

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this communication are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “may,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “continue,” “future,” “will,” “expect,” “outlook” or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our first quarter and annual 2018 revenue guidance, industry, future events, future opportunities and growth initiatives, estimates of Rimini Street’s total addressable market, and projections of customer savings. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance, nor are these statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties regarding Rimini Street’s business, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in the business environment in which Rimini Street operates, including inflation and interest rates, and general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the industry in which Rimini Street operates; adverse litigation developments or government inquiry; the final amount and timing of any refunds from Oracle related to our litigation; our ability to refinance existing debt on favorable terms; changes in taxes, laws and regulations; competitive product and pricing activity; difficulties of managing growth profitably; the loss of one or more members of Rimini Street’s management team; uncertainty as to the long-term value of RMNI common stock; and those discussed in Rimini Street’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15, 2018 under the heading “Risk Factors,” as updated from time to time by Rimini Street’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings by Rimini Street with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be additional risks that Rimini Street presently knows or that Rimini Street currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements provide Rimini Street’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Rimini Street anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Rimini Street’s assessments to change. However, while Rimini Street may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Rimini Street specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Rimini Street’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.

© 2018 Rimini Street, Inc. All rights reserved. “Rimini Street” is a registered trademark of Rimini Street, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Rimini Street, the Rimini Street logo, and combinations thereof, and other marks marked by TM are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise specified, Rimini Street claims no affiliation, endorsement, or association with any such trademark holder or other companies referenced herein.



View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180329005112/en/

Contacts
Rimini Street, Inc.
Michelle McGlocklin, +1 925-523-8414
mmcglocklin@riministreet.com



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Former Polish President Calls on Europe to Follow Example of Sharjah in Government Communication at IGCF

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-Thursday, March 29th 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

The 7th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), organised by the International Government Communication Centre of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, opened its second day at Expo Centre Sharjah with speeches by the guest of honour Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland, and HE Tariq Saeed Allay, Director of Sharjah Government Media Bureau. The opening session was moderated by Maqsoud Kruse, Executive Director of “Hedayah”.

Wałęsa stressed the importance of the messages conveyed in the keynote address given by HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, at the opening ceremony. These include values that we must adhere to as we live in and respond to changes of the digital age.

Wałęsa called on European countries to draw from Sharjah's government communication experience, pointing to the challenges faced by the world community today, particularly in Europe, which necessitates learning from successful experiences in the management of the digital era.

Tariq Allay highlighted the pivotal role played by tools of the digital age. “This requires us to optimise the use of such tools in government communication, which must be credible, transparent and clear," he said; calling for investing in the growing use of the Internet and social media.

Day two of IGCF 2018 witnessed the launch of the Arab Government Communication Network, the region’s first government communication network and the Academic Committee of the International Government Communication Centre.

The Forum attracted thousands of visitors and media professionals from across the globe to discuss ways to harness tools of the digital age for the benefit of communities, nations and entire humanity, while achieving optimal transparent communication between different components of the social fabric.

Sessions discussed “Current State of Government Communication and How to Build Flexible Strategies”, “Female Leadership and its Role in Digital Communities”, and “Youth of the Future: Building Young Skills for the Digital Millennium”, and many other topics and success stories.

Speakers on day two included Vanessa D’Ambrosio, youngest former head of state of the Republic of San Marino, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, Inma Martinez, AI pioneer and digital scientist, and HE Majd Shweikeh, Jordan’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology, among others.

Contacts

Hussain Almulla, Media Relation Executive, +971563980067

Hussain.AlMulla@SGMB.ae

Permalink : http://aetoswire.com/news/former-polish-president-calls-on-europe-to-follow-example-of-sharjah-in-government-communication-at-igcf/en

On World Water Day, Grundfos Renews Commitment to Save Water and make a difference

Our aim is to think ahead and innovate for the greater good of our planet and our society

Dubai, United Arab Emirates-Wednesday, March 28th 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

On the occasion of World Water Day, celebrated around the world on 22 March every year, Grundfos, the award-winning world leader in advanced pump and water application systems, renewed its commitment to make clean water available to people in the world.

Water has been at the heart of Grundfos business and passion for more than 70 years. To this end, Grundfos pledged to continue to apply its core competency in moving, conserving, cleaning and bringing safe water to where it is needed; in short, to address the global water crisis, one drop at a time. “The UN has set 17 very ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 15 of these 17 goals relate directly or indirectly to water. I am placing particular significance on goal 6, which relates to access to clean water and sanitation for everyone,” said Mads Nipper, Grundfos CEO.  

In line with the theme for World Water Day 2018, ‘Nature for Water’- exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century; Grundfos sheds the light on the importance of water and the need to make water a global priority.

“As the global population increases, demand for fresh water will escalate alarmingly. Fresh water accounts for only 2.5% of all the water on the planet and less than 1% is actually available to us. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in areas of absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under water stress.”

“By constantly innovating our water pump solutions, we can help the world’s population get access to water. Grundfos technology can make a real difference and move the world in a positive direction in this area. We are making a difference because we can,” added Grundfos CEO.

Grundfos expertise can help to improve people’s lives, through innovative solutions that break with conventional thinking and allow local communities, governments and municipalities achieve not only an environmentally but economically sustainable future.

About Grundfos Gulf Distribution:

Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump solutions and a trendsetter in water technology. The company contributes to global sustainability by pioneering technologies that improve quality of life for people and care for the planet. Grundfos Gulf Distribution FZE incorporated in 1989 in Dubai is the regional headquarters of the company for the East Europe, Western Asia and AfricaRegion. Grundfos provides energy efficient pumps and smart pumping solutions for various applications across diverse segments including domestic & commercial buildings, industries, water utilities (water & wastewater management) and pumps running on renewable energy. For more information about Grundfos UAE visit: www.grundfos.ae

Contacts

GRUNDFOS Gulf Distribution FZE

April Velasco, Marketing Executive, Communications

Marketing & Communications

Office: +97148815166

Mobile: +971552302982

avelasco@grundfos.com

Permalink : http://aetoswire.com/news/on-world-water-day-grundfos-renews-commitment-to-save-water-and-make-a-difference/en

IDEMIA: Enter the World of Augmented Identity at Seamless Middle East in Dubai (15th & 16th April 2018)

COLOMBES, France-Saturday, March 31st 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, today announces its presence at Seamless Middle East 2018, the Middle East’s largest exhibition covering the world of Payments and Fintech in Dubai, on 15th and 16th April 2018.

Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, IDEMIA guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions for clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.

At Seamless Middle East 2018, IDEMIA invites you to experience its solutions to reinvent the way we “Transact” and “Identify”, through dedicated demonstration areas.

A wide range of innovations will be showcased on the IDEMIA booth:

    Know Your Customer solutions for digital customer onboarding
    3D face and iris recognition for mobile phones
    Digital customer experience and adaptive authentication for Financial Institutions
    IDEMIA’s next generation of payment powered cards (F-Code, Blink, Motion Code)
    Mobile payment services
    Biometric data capture
    Blockchain… and much more to discover!

“This is the first time we will be present under the IDEMIA banner at Seamless Middle East since Oberthur Technologies and Safran Identity & Security (Morpho) joined forces to form our new group in 2017”, said Muzaffar Khokhar, President Middle East & Africa of IDEMIA. “At a time when the world is facing crucial challenges relating to the identification and protection of devices, objects and individuals, we are looking forward to meeting you on our stand and showing how IDEMIA supports the digital transformation of Financial institutions, providing clients and consumers with new generation seamless solutions and ground breaking frictionless technologies, but always without any compromise on security.”

Take a tour of our stand in Hall 6 Booth #J10
to discover the world of Augmented Identity.

IDEMIA speakers and demonstrators are looking forward to welcoming you!

Want to know more? Join us for speaking events on April 15:

- Panel with Gurcan Altiparmak (VP Sales Financial Institutions MEA):
“Boosting digital banking in MENA” (15:40)

- Round table with Guillaume Yribarren (VP Marketing):
“Implementing biometric technologies” (16:10)

About IDEMIA

OT-Morpho is now IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, with the ambition to provide a secure environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect, travel and vote), in the physical as well as digital space.
Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect this asset, whether for individuals or for objects. We ensure privacy and trust as well as guarantee secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.
OT (Oberthur Technologies) and Safran Identity & Security (Morpho) have joined forces to form IDEMIA. With close to $3 billion in revenues and 14,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.

For more information, visit www.idemia.com / Follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter

Contacts

Press contacts:
Havas Paris PR Agency
Hanna SEBBAH – 06 63 73 30 30
Email: idemia@havas.com


http://www.aetoswire.com/news/idemia-enter-the-world-of-augmented-identity-at-seamless-middle-east-in-dubai-15thnbspamp-16thnbspapril-2018/en

JCR Eurasia Rating Has Assigned Bahrain Middle East Bank B.S.C. Long Term National Credit Rating of "AA-(Bhr)" And Short Term National Credit Rating of "A-1+ (Bhr)" With "Stable" Outlooks on Both Ratings.

Istanbul, Turkey-Wednesday, March 28th 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]

Bahrain Middle East Bank B.S.C. (henceforth the bank or BMB), was established in 1982 in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bank is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) as a wholesale bank with rights to offer Islamic products. The Bank mainly focuses on international trade finance, treasury services, private banking and asset & wealth management. AN Investment W.L.L. (ANI) increased its shareholding to 80.77% in 2017 while Al Fawares Holding, a Kuwaiti conglomerate, held 14.48% of shares as of FYE2017. The Bank is listed in the Bahrain Bourse and operates in a strictly regulated environment supervised and overseen by the CBB.

Bahrain's overall outlook remains Vulnerable despite measures to tame the fiscal environment and efforts to diversify and boost non-oil fiscal revenues. On the other hand, worries remain over the Bahrain Banking Sector's outlook due to worsening economic fundamentals, low oil prices, narrowing margins, and increased geopolitical stress in the region. CBB has regulated and overseen the activities of the Bahrain Banking Sector since 1973. According to CBB statistics, the total asset size of the Bahrain Banking Sector was USD 189bn as of 3Q2017. Banking sector institutions numbered 102, 73 of which operate as wholesale and 29 as retail banks. Out of these banks, 22 are Islamic banks.

The major shareholder change along with the focus on trade finance, treasury and asset management triggered a sound asset growth. BMB has a diversified customer base comprised of major multinational companies and its loan portfolio is secured by insurance coverage eliminating default risk exposure. BMB carries a high level of liquid assets on its balance sheet which provides resilience to external shocks and is well capitalized, compared to the sector averages and the mandatory capital level required by the CBB. Relying on a concentrated funding base limits the Bank's flexibility. However, based on the relationship with the major depositors, interest expenses incurred by the Bank remained limited and help to achieve satisfactory interest margins. The Bank's business model, strong regulatory oversight, sound liquid reserves, profitability figures, and high asset quality along the environment that drives the management to maintain solid strategies provided a base for 'AA-(Bhr)' on the Long Term National Rating scale, a high-investment grade. On the other hand, BMB's International Foreign and Local Currency Ratings were assigned as 'BB-', which is the Country ceiling.

We are of the opinion that the controlling owners of the Bank have the willingness to provide long-term funds or equity and operational support, should such a need arise. In this perspective, the Group's Sponsor Support Rating has been assigned as (2) within the JCR Eurasia Rating scale.

JCR Eurasia Rating believes that the Bank possesses the capacity and the experience to manage its commitments without external support, considering its internal resource generation capacity and profitability potential, relationship with financial institutions, asset quality, capitalization level, liquidity profile and risk management applications provided that the macroeconomic outlook does not concentrate on the negative direction. In this regard, the Bank's Stand-Alone Rating is assigned as (B), indicating a sufficient level within JCR Eurasia Rating notation.

For more information regarding the rating results, you may visit our internet site http://www.jcrer.com.tr

Contacts

Abdurrahman Tutga, +902123525673

abdurrahman.tutgac@jcrer.com.tr

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