ShareKUWAIT: Burgan Bank held its 61st Annual General Assembly Meeting and the 38th Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting on Saturday, 29/3/2025 at the Bank’s headquarters, with a quorum of 81.457 percent. During the meeting, the Bank’s Board of Directors presented the shareholders with the financial results and an overview of operational performance for the year ending December 31, 2024. Meanwhile, the shareholders approved the distribution of cash dividends of 6 fils per share in addition to bonus shares of 5 percent for the fiscal year 2024.
During his speech at the general assembly meeting, Sheikh Abdullah Nasser Al-Sabah, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: “During 2024, the Bank succeeded in recording good achievements under its new strategy, translating into notable improvement across most of its financial indicators. Driven by its ambitious vision and forward-looking roadmap, the Bank cemented its leading position in the market, upholding its commitment to achieving its growth and expansion plan.”
He further clarified that the Bank focused during 2024 on strategic priorities, most notably asset redistribution, keeping pace with digital transformation, investing in human capital, and adhering to the highest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Together, these goals culminate in a distinctive banking experience for Burgan’s customers that lives up to their aspirations and meets their needs. He also underscored the Bank’s unwavering commitment to balancing returns and risks to achieve financial prudence and market-leading innovation.
The Chairman added: “2024 witnessed significant global and regional challenges, marked by geopolitical turmoil that cast a shadow over some economies. Despite the difficult conditions and uncertainty surrounding some countries in the region, the banking sector in Kuwait once again demonstrated exceptional resilience and maintained its position as a pillar of stability and growth. As Kuwait continues to benefit from prudent fiscal policies, strong regulatory frameworks, and a proactive economic strategy, these factors helped maintain investor confidence and enabled sustainable growth during periods of volatility in global markets and the accompanying inflationary pressures and turmoil.”
“This has proven to be instrumental in our growth and development at Burgan Bank, as Kuwait remains the cornerstone of our operations,” Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sabah continued. “We recognize that the market is full of promising growth opportunities, characterized by accelerated digital transformation, an increased focus on sustainability, and an ongoing pursuit of innovation.”
Innovation as a growth engine
“We experienced good growth across all our operations in 2024, and we reaffirm our commitment to providing best-in-class financial services and innovating solutions designed to create sustainable value for all our shareholders,” the Chairman noted. He added: “Our commitment to several key strategic investments has strengthened our infrastructure and delivered advanced, streamlined financial solutions tailored to the needs of various customer segments. Among the key developments we have undertaken are enhancing our digital infrastructure, adopting digital technologies to develop the best and most advanced solutions, and refining our customer experiences across traditional and digital channels. We have also expanded our services and diversified our product portfolio, serving our goal to enhance the banking experience for all customers, retail and corporate, regardless of their segment.”
Good results and strong capital ratios
The Chairman commended the progress achieved by the Bank during 2024, reflected in the 7 percent growth in profits to reach KD 46.4 million. In addition, the Bank reported KD 229 million worth of revenues, a 3 percent year-on-year increase, owing to the 17 percent growth in net interest income, which amounted to KD 157 million. Burgan Bank also maintained healthy capital levels during 2024, with the shareholders’ Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio reaching 12.6 percent and the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) reaching 18.6 percent, compared to the minimum regulatory requirements of 10.5 percent and 14.0 percent, respectively.
As part of Burgan Bank’s new strategy to redistribute assets and build new revenue streams, it signed an agreement with United Gulf Holding Company, a Bahrain-based joint stock company, to purchase the latter’s entire stake in United Gulf Bank (UGB), a wholesale bank licensed and headquartered in Bahrain, for a value of $190 million. UGB also owns 60 percent of Kamco Investment Company K.S.C.P (Kamco Invest), a leading regional investment company based in Kuwait with $16 billion in assets under management. Burgan Bank obtained the necessary approvals from the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), completing the acquisition only recently.
This acquisition provides Burgan Bank with the opportunity to enter high-growth sectors such as investment and Islamic finance, creating lucrative cross-selling and upselling opportunities, and achieving various synergies from the integration of the two entities’ operations and systems. The acquisition will also enhance access to the Kamco Invest platform, which currently offers a comprehensive suite of investment solutions in asset management, investment banking, and financial brokerage.
Strategy success
For his part, Tony Daher, Group CEO at Burgan Bank, said: “Our financial indicators in 2024 demonstrated real, long-term growth across all our core businesses, validating the success of our strategies. Burgan Bank has also made significant strides in achieving its core objectives of creating long-term value, increasing market share, and enhancing its banking experience.”
He added: “We are moving forward with our efforts to digitize all our activities and services, especially as our digital transformation journey continues to evolve while we successfully achieve new milestones and identify new market needs, emerging opportunities, and the latest industry trends.”
“During 2024, we continued to invest our resources in ensuring that our customers enjoy a modern and seamless experience, driven by Burgan Bank’s philosophy of providing smarter, easier, and more sustainable banking services. This has driven us to adopt the latest technologies and implement advanced digital solutions across all stages of the customer journey,” Daher said. Regarding digital transformation, he stated that the Bank took a major step in 2024 by signing a landmark agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to upgrade and modernize its core banking systems using the TCS BaNCS suite of solutions.
Furthermore, Daher explained that in 2024 the Bank achieved another milestone, represented by its successful issuance of KD 150 million Perpetual Additional Tier 1 Capital Bonds, where demand exceeded expectations, and the subscription volume exceeded the target amount. This issuance represents a historic achievement for Burgan Bank, marking the first and largest issuance of KD-denominated perpetual Tier 1 capital bonds in Kuwait, and placing it among the largest KD-denominated issuances.
Investing in human capital
“Guided by our vision to become the top employer of choice in the Kuwaiti banking sector, we remain committed to investing in, developing, and advancing our human capital by building a dynamic, progressive, and innovative internal culture,” Daher said. He also noted: “Throughout 2024, we made several appointments and promotions across all employment levels, including senior and executive management, as part of our efforts to expand the Bank’s national talent pool. To maintain and grow the Bank’s highly valuable human capital, we will exert every effort not only to attract outstanding talents but also to retain them through a holistic yearlong development scheme. Therefore, our learning and development strategy is a key component of our success, which has prompted us to launch several dynamic career development programs for our employees throughout 2024.”
Furthermore, the Bank launched the new 2024 edition of its pioneering Ro’ya talent development program and expanded the scope of its Burgan Cares program to support employees interested in pursuing higher education. It also launched the new Burgan Beacon (Manarat Burgan) program, which aims to recognize high-performing employees. These efforts resulted in Burgan Bank receiving the Brandon Hall Group Human Capital Management (HCM) Gold Award of Excellence in the “Learning and Development” category for the “Best Use of Social/Collaborative Learning”.
Developing banking services
On the ongoing development of banking services, Daher noted: “During 2024, we launched a dedicated development strategy aimed at improving and expanding the Private Banking suite of services, in addition to enhancing the portfolio of solutions specifically designed for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). We also expanded our Private Banking branch network and launched a range of new exclusive products designed solely for this distinguished customer segment.”
He added: “We have accelerated our strategy to enhance retail banking offerings, expanding the range of services and solutions offered to esteemed customers by launching the new Elite segment as well as revamping the Premier segment and reinforcing it with new special benefits. We also launched the awal savings account for young customers up to the age of 14 in a bid to meet customers’ needs at various stages of their lives.” Burgan Bank also launched a dedicated investment and wealth management training program in collaboration with Fitch Learning, a global training and development solutions provider and a subsidiary of Fitch Group. In addition, 2024 witnessed the launch of the Burgan’s “Lean-in Circle for Women Empowerment” program, which explores and addresses the unique challenges women face in the workplace.
On the digital front, one of Burgan’s most notable achievements in 2024 was the launch of its innovation and digital transformation center, Burgan Lab, designed to foster a culture of collaboration, creativity, and excellence through a series of yearlong workshops, training sessions, and focus groups. Following this, the Bank launched the pioneering training program, Burgan Lab Academy, developed in collaboration with CODED Academy, to empower new graduates and prepare future technology leaders in Kuwait’s banking sector.
Digital transformation
Burgan Bank doubled down on its unwavering efforts to enhance digital transformation in 2024. One of its most notable digital achievements was launching a new queuing system, which synchronizes with the Public Authority for Civil Information’s (PACI) Mobile ID application (Hawyti) and identifies customers’ identities and information, allowing for advanced and personalized digital banking services that significantly reduce waiting times. In addition to joining the Gulf’s real-time payment system AFAQ, the Bank launched the instant payment service WAMD.
The Chairman concluded his statement by extending his thanks to the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) for their continued support of Burgan Bank and the Kuwaiti banking sector. He also thanked Burgan Bank’s Board of Directors, executive management, shareholders, customers, and all employees across all departments for their ongoing contributions to the Bank’s development.
