APICORP net profit hits $99.6 million amid focus on ESG investments

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a Saudi Arabia-based multilateral financial institution, on Wednesday posted a net profit for 2021 of US $99.6 million, down around 13 percent from $115 million in 2020.

APICORP said its corporate banking portfolio reached $4.6 billion, representing a 19 year-on-year increase, in part due to the company disbursing its $500 million countercyclical support package to its member countries and strategic partners.

The package was launched in 2020 to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price fluctuations, the bank said.

The Dammam-based lender is owned by the 10 members of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and earlier this month appointed Khalid Al Ruwaigh as its new chief executive.

“APICORP has consistently delivered improvements in its balance sheet over recent years, and 2021 was no exception,” Dr. Aabed Al Saadoun, Chairman of the APICORP Board, said in a statement.

“It is a testament to the corporation’s structural and strategic resilience that it delivered exceptional growth in corporate banking in a year marred by global economic uncertainty. It was also a year that saw the corporation lead the energy transition through the issuance of green bonds and an ESG framework that is transforming the very nature of our region’s energy landscape,” he said.

The leadership change and the results come as the bank increasingly focuses on sustainable investments in compliance with its new environmental, social and governance policy.

APICORP said last year that it aims to allocate $1 billion to fund green energy projects and will also measure the ESG footprint of all of its assets by the end of 2023.