Adib's full-year net profit rises 10.6% to Dh851 million

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib) said its full-year 2008 net profit rose 10.6 per cent to Dh851 million ($231.6m) from a year earlier.

The Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend of 50 per ent of net income for the financial year 2008.

The bank's earnings per share rose to Dh0.432 from Dh0.413, it said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse website.

Return on Equity (RoE) rose from 14.2 per cent in 2007 to 15.1 per cent in 2008. The bank's total assets increased by 16 per cent to Dh51bn from Dhs44bn in 2007. The bank's fourth quarter net profit fell almost 60 per cent to Dh114.8m from Dh285.4m in the corresponding period in 2007.

The bank did not provide quarterly figures which Zawya Dow Jones calculated from previous data. It made provisions of Dh152.5m.

"Due to the current uncertainty, we have increased our provisions significantly which is a direct acknowledgement of what we believe will be a challenging year ahead across all the business. We believe that conservative provisioning is critical at this point in time. Going forward, it is vital that we continue to invest in and build our businesses appropriately, in line with the market potential," Jawaan Al Khaili, ADIB Group Chairman said in the statement.

Tirad Mahmoud, CEO of Adib said: "Overall, the results are positive given the market's turbulence in 2008, particularly in the last quarter. Our net income including extra provisioning for the year was Dh791m, up 22 per cent on 2007.

"However, without taking extra provisioning into account, our net income grew an impressive 58 per cent from Dh648m in 2007 to Dh1bn in 2008. Net revenue from funding activities grew by 83 per cent and we saw a strong 52 per cent in top line operating growth across the core banking business."

Adib's capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.84 per cent at the end of 2008.

The bank plans to open 10 additional branches and will hire more employees as it expands in the country.

"We have a budget to increase headcount by no less than five per cent," Mahmoud said.

"We will grow our branches in the UAE by 10 in 2009, which will be proportionately distributed among the emirates." (With inputs from agencies)