The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development bank, posted a total income of $162.04 million in 2015 compared with $156.28 million in 2014, an increase of 3.7 per cent.

Its net profit before provisions increased by 5 per cent to $124.38 million from $118.51 million for the previous year.

The company maintained its prudent approach, setting aside an investment provision of $16.78 million, which was slightly higher than in 2014 and reflects continuing geopolitical and economic uncertainty in several parts of the Mena region. This resulted in an adjusted net profit of $107.60 million for 2015, compared with $105.03 million in the previous year, Apicorp said.

Apicorp was established in 1975 by the 10 member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

As at December 31, 2015, total assets were $5.65 billion and shareholders’ equity increased to $1.91 billion.

During the year, Apicorp continued to implement its strategy of rebalancing its lending and equity investment portfolios, through increasing the level of equity investments. This saw Apicorp make a significant investment in Saudi Mechanical Industries (SMI), in addition to Apicorp’s participation in Taqa’s capital increase. Total direct equity investments, were $922.53 million as at December 31, 2015, 6.5 per cent higher than 12 months previously.

The year 2015 also witnessed the establishment of a $3 billion Sukuk programme, followed by the successful placement of a five year $500 million sukuk in October 2015.

Becoming a regular issuer of sukuk in global markets represents a significant strategic step for Apicorp, and positions the company’s redit alongside its multilateral development banks peers.

In February 2015, Apicorp participated in a successful $200 million refinancing arrangement for National Petroleum Services Group (NPS).