Bank Nizwa elects new board of directors

Muscat: At the election of new board of directors of Bank Nizwa, Sayyid Amjad bin Mohammed Al Busaidi has been elected chairman and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Rawahi as vice-chairman at the bank’s third annual general meeting recently.
While five board of directors have been re-elected, three new faces have joined the board. Other members of the board include Sheikh Muadh bin Salim Al Ghazali, Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalifa, Al Saadi, Sheikh Saif bin Hilal Al Mawali, Musabah bin Saif Al Mutairi and Hussain bin Yousif Al Shalwani.
The annual general meeting comes after a milestone year that saw the bank reach the breakeven point and expand its financing portfolio by 99 per cent compared to the previous year.
Sayyid Amjad bin Mohammed Al Busaidi, chairman of the bank, presented Bank Nizwa’s financial performance for the year ended December 2015, while shareholders approved the director’s report, the corporate governance report, the auditors’ report and all financial statements.
Shareholders also reviewed the Sharia Supervisory Board’s report and all transactions and contracts conducted by the bank during the period. Additionally, Bank Nizwa’s Sharia Supervisory Board was reappointed. Sheikh Dr Abdul Sattar Abdul Karim Abu Ghuddah, Dr Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Gharbi, and Sheikh Ibrahim bin Nasser Al Sawwafi will in effect continue serving in their roles for another one-year term.
The year 2015 was a momentous year for us as the bank reached key milestones despite economic challenges. During the year, Bank Nizwa’s income from jointly financed, investment and receivables increased by 82 per cent while total assets grew by 37 per cent.
Both the retail banking and wholesale banking divisions delivered a strong performance in 2015 which helped boost operating revenue to OMR11.9 million, showing a growth of 58 per cent from 2014
“We made good strides in scaling up our growth efforts in 2015 by revising our strategy to address the changing operating environment. Moving forward, we will be guided by the 2020 business strategy. The strategy has been built on five key areas: to increase financial performance, to deliver excellent customer service experience, to drive core business with efficiency and technological advancement, to build a high performance working environment and to enhance Bank Nizwa’s ability as a progressive organisation,” the chairman said.
“Our aim is to build on the achievements of 2015 and to continue delivering products and services that ensure the bank’s long-term competitiveness and enhance value for our shareholders,” he added.
With a focus on customer care, innovation, and service excellence, Bank Nizwa has grown in the last three years, far-reaching customers across Oman. A testament to its valuable contributions to the industry, the bank received critical acclaim for the quality of its Sharia-compliant solutions which include being named the ‘Strongest Islamic Retail Bank in Oman’ at the 7th Islamic Retail Banking Awards and the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Oman’ at the 6th annual Islamic Finance Awards.