KUWAIT: Kuwait's Gulf Bank fell to a net loss of 524,000 dinars ($1.82 million) in the first quarter of 2010 after a profit of 1.6 million dinars in the same period a year ago, the bank said on Sunday. A statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website on Sunday did not give a reason for the loss. Analysts at Global Investment House had expected Gulf Bank to post a net profit of 8 million dinars in the first quarter, according to a Reuters survey. Gulf Bank was rescued by the central bank in 2008 after derivatives losses. Its troubles prompted the government to guarantee all deposits in local banks to restore confidence. The lender, in which sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) owns a 16 percent stake, made a net loss of 28.07 million dinars in 2009. Total assets stood at 4.5 billion dinars in the first three months to March 31, while shareholder equity came in at 397.35 million dinars, it said in the statement. Gulf Bank's shares were down 1.3 percent at 0616 GMT after the release of the results.
