Bahrain’s GFH receives $2.5m as legal settlement from Prescott Energy

Bahrain-based investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) has received $2.5m in cash as the legal settlement in a case filed against Prescott Energy and its affiliates.

The case was filed in 2013 against Prescott Energy and its affiliates regarding its investment in Prescott Oil Fund.

The Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution ruled in favour of GFH in 2015, awarding it $3m plus three per cent interest starting from June 4, 2013.

In a brief statement to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Wednesday, GFH said it has accordingly recovered $2.5m in cash against the total awarded amount in the legal case.

“The recovery of such amount is expected to have a positive impact on GFH’s financial results,” it added.

The financial group recently posted a 236 per cent rise net profit for the first quarter to reach $33.6m, compared to $10m in Q1 2016.

Total income in Q1 also rose to $51.1m, up from $29.1m year ago.

Earlier this month, GFH said it aims to increase its assets under management from $3.5bn to $5-6bn in 2017 by acquisition in financial services and infrastructure sectors.

The company said it is considering one to two acquisition deals in the financial sector worth $100-$200m this year.

It is also mulling three to four deals in the infrastructure and strategic assets sectors with a value ranging between $200m to $300m.