Total revenues reached US$24 million, with a strong and diverse mix of operating income. Net profit for the quarter was US$4.3 million. Underlying operating expenses remained firmly under control and non-staff costs were 8% lower than the first quarter of 2006. There was a significant increase in staff costs due to higher performance-related incentive payments (part of which reflected prior year ‘top-up’ payments to reflect Unicorn’s strong performance in 2006), ‘one-off’ payments and increased headcount.
The Bank achieved a series of notable business ‘firsts’ during the first quarter of 2007. In February, Unicorn closed the first Sukuk issued by a Saudi corporate in the international capital markets. The issue was launched at US$425 million but closed at US$600 million, having raised almost US$800 million. There was a strong global take-up for the Sukuk, with 29% of the amount raised coming from Europe and 7% coming from Asia.
In January, Unicorn successfully exited from its first Private Equity transaction when it sold The Gardens assisted living property in California. The Gardens was acquired in November 2004 and the sale realised an overall Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 21%. In March, Unicorn distributed the final proceeds from its first real estate fund (KSA Real Estate Fund 1), generating a final IRR of 15.5% (significantly better than the original 10% target). The successful exits from these two early transactions demonstrate Unicorn’s ability to source and structure competitive investment opportunities and successfully exit providing strong returns to investors.
In January, Unicorn significantly strengthened its network and franchise with the acquisition of a 75% stake in Inter Yatirim Menkul Degerler A.S., a brokerage and asset management company based in Turkey with offices in Istanbul and Ankara. Inter Yatirim is fully licenced by the Turkish Capital Markets Board to undertake a broad range of investment banking activities.
Mr. Majid Al-Sayed Bader Al-Refai, Unicorn’s Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer said: ‘Unicorn continued to make good progress in the first quarter of 2007 towards fulfilling its strategic vision. We continued to push back the boundaries of Islamic banking and achieved a number of ground-breaking transactions. At the same time, we diversified our income streams and made further progress towards fulfilling our global strategy. After barely three years in operation, Unicorn is already represented in five countries across three continents.’
