Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Q3 profit up 5.5%

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) , which is in merger talks with two other banks, on Sunday reported a 5.5 per cent rise in third-quarter profit, roughly in line with analyst forecasts.

ADCB made a net profit of Dhs1.15bn ($313.1m) in the three months ending September 30, up from Dhs1.09bn in the same period of last year.

The mean estimate from three analysts polled by Refinitiv for the third quarter was Dhs1.2bn.

ADCB is in three-way merger talks with Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank in a deal that could form a lender with $113bn in assets.

Net interest and Islamic finance income rose to Dhs1.80bn, from Dhs1.68bn a year earlier. Customer deposits stood at Dhs169.79bn at the end of the quarter, up 4 per cent from a year earlier.

Net loans and advances stood at Dhs165.21bn.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is reshaping its economy and consolidating state-owned companies to cope with lower oil prices.

Two of Abu Dhabi’s top banks merged last year to create First Abu Dhabi Bank, with assets of $175bn, while two of its big sovereign wealth funds were also combined.