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19 March 2024

UAB profit rises 34% to Dh161m

Published
By Staff

Sharjah-based United Arab Bank (UAB) on Wednesday said its profit in the first quarter ended on March 31, 2014 jumped 34 per cent to Dh161 million on the back of strong growth in core businesses.

Sheikh Faisal Bin Sultan Bin Salem Al Qassimi, Chairman, said: “The bank’s exceptional performance in 2013 has continued into the first quarter of 2014, reaffirming its position as the fastest growing bank in the Middle East. UAB’s sustained growth and momentum of recent years continues, strengthening our position in a highly competitive market. As we continue to gain traction, we are confident of our ability to deliver solid results and offer true value to customers, shareholders and partners.”

Paul Trowbridge, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We continue to go from strength to strength as is evident from our performance in the first quarter of 2014, following the bank’s strong 2013 results. Our loans & advances have significantly increased and so have our customer deposits, indicating our customer-centric approach as one of the main reasons we continue to perform outstandingly well. In addition, our focus continues to be on identifying and developing new income drivers, with success demonstrated by growth across all key income metrics.”

Customer loans & advances increased by 47 per cent to Dh17.2bn versus March 2013. Customer deposits grew by a similarly impressive 46 per cent in the same period to stand at Dh16.4bn, further emphasizing the ongoing sustainability of UAB’s growth strategy.

Operating income & expenses

The bank recorded operating income of Dh223m, a 44 per cent increase over Q1 2013. Total Income also improved at a similarly impressive rate of 45 per cent to Dh327m, with robust underlying performance across both net interest income and other income, up 42 per cent and 52 per cent respectively versus prior year.

Overall, non-interest income grew strongly in the quarter to Dh87m, driven primarily by net fees & commissions (Dh30m) and foreign exchange income (Dh20m).

Operating expenses for the quarter were Dh104m compared to Dh71m in the corresponding period of 2013, and in line with management expectations. The cost base is representative of the investment the bank continues to make in enhancing the customer experience and developing infrastructure to support future growth.

UAB’s successful network expansion programme has continued in the first quarter, with the bank now benefiting from 26 fully operational branches across the UAE. In parallel, the bank continues to invest in other distribution channels, with Q1 2014 seeing the launch of a new Online Trade Portal, all with the purpose of enhancing the overall customer experience.

Provision for credit losses

Provision charges in Q1 2014 were Dh61m compared to Dh34m for the same period in 2013. The bank continues to take a prudent and proactive approach to risk management, with our ability to grow our asset portfolio whilst maintaining quality evidenced by our sector leading non-performing loan ratio (1.66 per cent) and coverage ratio (113 per cent) as at March 31, 2014.