National Bank of Abu Dhabi Q1 net profit falls 10.7%

National Bank of Abu Dhabi , the emirate’s largest lender by assets, on Wednesday posted a 10.7 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit as revenues dropped and impairment charges for bad loans rose.

NBAD, almost 70 per cent owned by an Abu Dhabi state investment fund, made a net profit of Dhs 1.27bn ($345.8m) in the three months ending March 31, compared to Dhs 1.42bn in the year-ago period.

Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast a profit of Dhs 1.28bn and Dhs 1.45bn respectively.

Revenues reached Dhs 2.65bn dirhams during the quarter, down from Dhs 2.68bn dirhams during the year-ago period.

Impairment charges reached Dhs 295m, a 73.3 per cent increase on the corresponding period of last year.

Customer loans stood at Dhs 199.6bn at March 31, 0.3 per cent down from Dhs 200.2bn at the same point of last year.

Customer accounts and other deposits dipped 6.6 per cent over the same time period to reach Dhs 233.3bn as of end-March.