Best bank
National Bank of Kuwait
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has a dominant share in nearly every market segment and enjoys a near monopoly when it comes to doing business with foreign companies in Kuwait. The bank is also the market leader in the retail sector where it is consistently at the forefront of product innovation with leading internet, phone, and mobile banking services.
NBK is also strong in investment banking. Over the past year it worked on several complex transactions including aircraft financing deals for Kuwait Airways that were worth $720 million. NBK has also worked on a number of smaller M&A, equity and debt capital markets deals at home and across the region.
NBK?s financial performance and strength is also extremely impressive. The bank has an unbroken record of increasing profits stretching back to its foundation in 1952. Profits reached $412 million in 2003 and the bank?s share price has posted double-digit growth in each of the past five years.
Already one of the largest and best-run banks in the region, NBK has continued its expansion drive, purchasing a strategic stake and management control of Grindlays Qatar Bank, changing its bank to International Bank of Qatar.