UAE banks do well in first 9 months

UAE banks generally performed better in the first nine months of 2012 as they benefited from a business upswing and lower provisions, with their net earnings growing by around 2.2 per cent over the same period of last year.

The balance sheets of 17 national banks listed on the bourse in the second largest Arab economy showed their net profits swelled to Dh17.97 billion in the first nine months of this year compared with Dh17.53 billion in the first nine months of 2011.

Only three banks reported lower profits while most of the rest recorded modest increase in their income. The highest income growth was recorded by the Commercial International Bank, whose net earnings more than tripled during that period.

Government-controlled Emirates NBD, one of the largest banks in the Middle East, saw its profits fall to around Dh1,628 million in the first nine months of 2012 from Dh2,331 million in the first nine months of 2011. But it maintained its position as having the largest assets in the UAE standing at Dh271 billion at the end of September, nearly a fifth of the total assets of the listed banks of around Dh1,336 billion.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), another major financial unit controlled by the Abu Dhabi government, reported a drop in net profits to Dh2,131 million from Dh2.531 million in the same period after suffering from losses in previous years.

Another bank recording lower earnings was Dubai Commercial Bank, whose profits slumped to around Dh739.5 million from Dh777.2 million.

Government-controlled National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the second largest by assets, saw its net income climbing to Dh3,211 million from Dh2,983 million while those of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank grew to Dh958.4 million from Dh938.8 million.

The earnings of another major bank, Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank, swelled to Dh3,005 million from Dh2,688 million and those by Abu Dhabi’s Union National Bank rose to around Dh1,466 million from Dh1,375 million. All national banks in other emirates recorded modest increases in their net income.

According to a report in the Arabic language daily Alkhaleej, provisions allocated by the 17 banks for bad loans declined by around 10 per cent to Dh9.85 billion in the first nine months of 2012 from Dh11 billion in the same period of 2011.

It said the decline coincided with growth in credit by around Dh45 billion to nearly Dh930 billion at the end of September 2012.

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