Friday 24 April 2009

Bahrain shares index falls a record 4.8% as Arab Banking plunges 41%

Arab Banking Corporation, the Bahrain-based bank controlled by Libya, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, plunged 41% in its first trading day since January, triggering the biggest slump in the country’s equity index on record.

The bank, which has units in the US, UK and Singapore, lost hundreds of millions of dollars during 2007 and 2008 because of the collapse of the US subprime mortgage market. The company, known as ABC, yesterday posted its first quarterly profit in a year and a half at US$32 million, compared with a loss of US$587 million in the year-earlier period.

ABC shares opened at US$0.405 this morning, down 56%, as two trades took place simultaneously selling a total of 50,580 shares, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The shares closed at US$0.54 after 172,577 stocks traded.

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