Al Rayan Bank finally makes a profit

The bank, which was founded in 2004, made £1.2m after tax in 2014 after losing £5.5m in 2013. It also upped its operating income from £4.4m to £11.8m – a £168% increase year-on-year.

Al Rayan Bank was renamed from the Islamic Bank of Britain in October 2014 after it was acquired by Qatari bank Masraf Al Rayan in March of the same year.

At the same time Masraf Al Rayan pumped £75m into the UK bank – money which has been spent on improving its online banking service, revamping its website and funding high value transactions such as commercial and development deals.

Robert Sharpe, the bank’s chairman, said: “The financial year 2014 has been a momentous one in the Bank’s history and has laid the foundations for a prosperous future.

“The £75m additional investment from Masraf Al Rayan was a transformational event, the first results of which we have proudly announced today.

“The board believe that stakeholders in the bank including shareholders, customers and employees have good reason to be optimistic about its future prospects.

“This is based on Al Rayan Bank having a clear and balanced strategy to increase assets, liabilities and shareholder value, having a strong risk culture and a regulatory capital position that is well above the regulatory requirement.”

In 2014 the bank upped the value of its issued home purchase plans (residential mortgage lending equivalent) by 50% to £311.6m.

And at the same time it more than trebled (304%) the value of its issued commercial property finance to £138.5m.