Dubai’s Mashreq Says Majed Saif al-Ghurair Resigns From Board

Dubai’s Mashreq, the second-largest lender in the emirate by market value, said board member Majed Saif al-Ghurair has resigned with immediate effect, according to a bourse filing on Wednesday.

No reason for the resignation was given.

Ghurair, who is also a board member of the Dubai Financial Support Fund, belongs to one of Dubai’s oldest and most prominent merchant families and is the cousin of Mashreq Chief Executive Abdul Aziz al-Ghurair.

Mashreq, Dubai’s second-biggest bank by stock market value recently posted an 86 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit for the third quarter of this year, citing a decline in bad loan provisions.

Net profit climbed to Dhs379 million ($103 million) in the quarter from Dhs204 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on the bank’s nine-month earnings statement.

For the first nine months of the year, profit rose 28 per cent to Dhs970 million, Mashreq said.

“The last two quarters in particular have shown very promising trends which have culminated in healthy bottom line growth,” Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Mashreq’s chief executive, said in the statement.

“We are witnessing increasing stability in the UAE and look forward to continuing this positive growth in the coming quarters.”