Business & Finance Club - Manama : Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) plans to raise its capital, the second such increase in less than a year, as the investment firm hit hard by a regional property crash seeks to boost liquidity.   

GFH, in its statement to the Dubai Financial Market on Monday, did not say how much capital it plans to raise, only saying it would restructure its business.
   
The company will disclose its second-quarter results once the capital increase is approved. It also asked the bourse to suspend its shares until August 23.
Bahraini and regional investment houses have been shut out of loan and bonds markets since a regional property crash late in 2008 hit their business, leaving rights issues as the only refinancing tool.

GFH raised $300 million in fresh capital in November, but has since failed to generate new business or sell assets to pay back its debt.

It has twice struck last-minute deals with lenders to extend a $300 million loan that originally was due in February, when it paid back $200 million. Last week it extended the remaining $100 million for another three years.

GFH posted a 2009 loss of $728 million as its revenues eroded and it wrote down the real estate it had in it books, but reduced its first-quarter loss to $7.5 million on cost and job cuts.