UAE banks gain Dh78bn in assets

The combined assets of UAE banks swelled by nearly Dh78 billion in the first seven months of 2013 to maintain their position as having the largest financial base in the Arab banking system, according to official data.

From around Dh1,791bn at the end of 2012, the assets of the country’s 23 national banks and 28 foreign units surged to nearly Dh1,869bn at the end of July, showed the figures released by the Central Bank this week.

The level at the end of July is nearly Dh207bn higher than the banks’ assets at the end of 2011, when they stood at around Dh1,662bn, the report showed.

Deposits with the 52 banks also surged by around Dh86bn in the first seven months of 2013 to reach Dh1,253bn at the end of July while loans grew by about Dh67bn to reach Dh1,160bn.

The report showed deposits grew faster than loans in the first seven months as they increased by around 7.3 per cent while loans rose by 5.6 per cent.

Loan loss provisions increased by Dh600 million during July and Dh5.6bn through the first seven months to peak at Dh73.5bn at the end of July. The provisions recorded one of their largest annual increases of about Dh12bn through 2012 as banks pushed ahead with plans to build up a strong financial base to offset bad debt in the wake of the 2008 global fiscal distress.

The report showed the banks’ combined shareholders equity, covering capital and reserves, increased slightly to Dh268.1bn at the end of July from nearly Dh267.9bn at the end of June. At the end of July, they were nearly Dh8bn below their level of Dh276.4bn at the end of 2012.

 

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