Finance House profit up 10.5%

Finance House net profit rose to Dh56.5 million for the six months ended on 30 June 2013 compared to Dh51.1 million for the first-half of 2012, registering an increase of 10.5 per cent.

Net Interest Income earned during the first half of the year grew by 7.5 per cent to Dh64 million compared to Dh59.5 million registered in the same period of the previous year.

Net Fee and Commission Income grew by a whopping 65.6 per cent to reach Dh20.5 million compared to Dh12.4 million during the first half of the previous year.

Net Insurance Income at its insurance subsidiary grew to Dh7.6 million compared to Dh1.6 million in the comparable period of the previous year. Income from investing activities also grew at a healthy rate compared to the same period in the previous year, on the back of improved performance of UAE stocks, profitable exit from a private equity investment and profitable disposal of an investment property.

As a combined result of the above, Total Operating Income for the half year ended 30 June 2013 was higher by 9.3 per cent at Dh123.5 million compared to Dh113 million during the same period of the previous year.

Due to continued expansion in business activities of the Group, Total Operating Expenses were higher by 8 per cent compared to the same period last year. In line with its conservative approach towards impairment provisioning, FH continues to set aside provisions against potential impairment losses, on a quarterly basis.

Net Loans & Advances grew by a robust 15.5 per cent YOY to reach Dh1.42 billion as of 30 June 2013, compared to Dh1.23 billion at the same time last year. During the same period, Islamic Financing & Investing Assets grew by nearly 54 per cent to reach Dh100 million as of 30 June 2013 compared to Dh65 million as of 30 June 2012.

Customers’ Deposits grew steadily to reach Dh1.77 Billion as of 30 June 2013. The resultant Loans to Deposits ratio as of 30 June 2013 stood at 86.1 per cent, leaving ample room for growth in lending book in the near term.

Shareholders’ Equity as at 30 June 2013 stood at a healthy Dh677.6 million compared to Dh651 million as of 31 December 2012. This is after distributing a cash dividend of 12 per cent in March 2013, amounting to Dh36.3 million for the year ended 31 December 2012.

Mohammed Abdulla Alqubaisi, Chairman of Finance House, said: “The stable economic environment in the UAE has allowed us to focus on our core engines of growth which are commercial and consumer lending and proprietary investments. Our strategy of continuously seeking and addressing profitable & underserved niche segments has enabled us to generate healthy returns for our shareholders on a sustained basis. We are confident that this strategy will continue to serve us well in the near future as well”.

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