Tunisian investor Khaled Fakhfakh has gained TND3.1 million ($1.1 million) from his stake in Arab International Bank of Tunisia (BIAT), as shares in the Tunisia-based bank soar by 21 percent.
Shares in the bank have increased by double digits since the start of the year, as investors acquire additional shares in the bank in reaction to a resilient financial performance in 2020.
The double-digit increase in the bank’s share price on the Tunisia Stock Exchange has returned impressive gains to shareholders, including Khaled Fakhfakh, who holds a 1.42-percent equity stake.
BIAT is Tunisia’s largest private sector bank, providing commercial banking services, including deposits, loans and credit cards.
The bank has more than 185 offices in Tunisia and operates several subsidiaries, including BIAT Capital, SICAV Tresor, SICAV Prosperity, BIAT Asset Management, SICAR Avenir and Compagnie Internationale Arabe de Recouvrement.
Since 2018, its customer deposits have grown from TND11.5 billion ($4.2 billion) to TND17.8 billion ($6.4 billion) at the end of 2020.
As of press time, 4:40 PM (UTC), Aug. 30, shares in the Tunisia-based financial services provider were trading at TND64.50 ($23.3) per share, 78-basis points higher than its opening price on the bourse this morning.
Between March 30 and Aug. 30, the BIAT share price on the Tunisian bourse has increased from TND53.3 ($19.2) to TND64.5 ($23.3) per share, earning a total gain of 21 percent for shareholders in 153 days.
The surge in share price can be linked to investors’ reaction to the bank’s resilient financial performance in the first half of 2021, as it recorded a net income of TND757.2 million ($273.0 million), up from the TND721.4 million ($260.1 million) it declared in the first half of 2020.
Fakhfakh has seen the market value of his stake increase from TND14.6 million ($5.3 million) on March 30 to TND17.7 million ($6.4 million) on Aug. 30, a gain of TND3.1 million ($1.1 million) for the Tunisian investor in 153 days.
Fakhfakh is the North Africa managing director of IEG Investment Banking Group, a leading global investment banking group with investments in the Internet and technology sectors.
Fakhfakh was the general manager of BIAT between 1996 and 1997.
Before his appointment to the board of IEG in 2012, he was deputy general manager of Compangie Internationale Arabe de Tourisme, a subsidiary of BIAT.
