By Ahmed Awad

Kuwait-Mubasher: Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) seeks to expand in the retail and corporate lending in the next period, said Deputy Chief General Manager Abdullah Al-Sumait.

On the sidelines of the general meeting held on Saturday, Al-Sumait said 60% of the bank's operates is related to companies. He added that ABK's operations improved in 2014 compared to the previous years.

During Saturday's meeting, shareholders approved cash dividend for the fiscal year 2014 at 13% of the stock's par value, or 13 fils per share.

The KSE-listed bank will not issue bonds in 2015, Al-Sumait said, adding that the capital efficiency ratio reaches 26%, the highest among local banks.

Shareholders also approved issuing bonds in dinar or any other currency by nearly KWD 150 million. They mandated the board to define the par value of these bonds and the interest rate.

The lender posted earnings of KWD 37.59 million (nearly $127 million) for 2014, rising around 6.1% compared with KWD 35.43 million a year earlier.

ABK operates with KWD 161.9 million capital, divided into 1.6 billion shares at 100 fils par value each.

Translated by Abdul Maguid Aboshahla