Restructuring at McLaren lifted earnings
Wealth fund shifts to local investments
Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has posted the biggest profit in its 19-year history, reversing a loss in 2023, according to the Bahrain News Agency.
Its consolidated net profit reached BD363 million ($963 million) in 2024, versus a net loss of BD497 million the year before, the state-run agency reported.
“The past year marked a major period of change for Mumtalakat, as we repositioned for long-term growth,” said chairman Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
The turnaround was driven by restructuring at McLaren Group in the UK and its partnership with Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holding.
The wealth fund‘s share of profits from National Bank of Bahrain rose to BD34.7 million from BD33.5 million in 2023.
However, earnings from Bahrain Telecommunications Company fell slightly to BD25.3 million from BD 25.6 million.
Additionally, Aluminium Bahrain reported net profit of BD184.5 million in 2024, compared to BD118 million in 2023.
Consolidated revenue rose to BD2.2 billion in 2024, up from BD2.1 billion in 2023.
Last year, Mumtalakat signed several partnerships with regional sovereign wealth funds to explore mutual investments in green energy and healthcare.
In November Al Khalifa said the fund was looking closer to home for investments, prioritising local opportunities over international ones.
Mumtalakat has roughly $18 billion of assets under management, making it one of the Gulf’s smaller sovereign investors. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds more than $940 billion in assets.
Mumtalakat has stakes in more than 60 local and international companies in 13 countries.
Last month rating agency S&P changed its outlook on Mumtalakat to negative from stable after also revising Bahrain’s outlook because of persistent fiscal deficits.
Bahrain’s economy expanded by 3.4 percent year on year in the last quarter of 2024, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
