Emirates NBD profits soar

15 July 2015

Recent Dubai restructurings allow bank to thrive

  • Dubai’s Emirates NBD announces 41.2 per cent rise in first-half profits to $903m, compared with first half of 2014
  • Its impaired loan ratio fell from 13.5 per cent to 7.4 per cent a year ago
  • Emirates Islamic Bank profits shot up 97 per cent in the first half, compared with same period in 2014

Dubai-based Emirates NBD, and its subsidiary Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB), recorded a large profit rise in the first half of 2015, despite lower oil prices and slowing economic growth.

Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the UAE and the region in terms of assets, saw its profits rise to AED3.3bn ($903m) in the first half of the year, up 41.2 per cent on the first half of 2014.

Its income for the first half of 2015 rose 7.3 per cent year-on-year to AED7.6bn, thanks to interest income rising by 9 per cent to reach AED5bn.

The bank grew its loanbook by 6 per cent to AED256m, while the ratio of impaired loans fell from 13.5 per cent to 7.4 per cent. This is thanks to several debt restructuring deals by Dubai firms affected by the 2008 real estate crisis. The cost of risk in the emirate is also returning to normal levels.

The growth was driven by the wholesale banking business, despite weak demand for corporate loans. The bank recorded 11 per cent operating income growth compared with the first half of 2014, to reach AED2.5bn.

Emirates NBD also issued AED8.9bn of debt, to manage its own debt profiles and costs.

Its Islamic subsidiary, EIB grew exponentially. The bank’s net profit saw a 97 per cent increase, from AED226m in the first half of 2014 to AED447m in the first half of this year.

It was able to expand its customer base by 10 per cent year-on-year, driving a 24.9 per cent increase in total income to AED1.4bn.

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