Dubai’s Emirates NBD third quarter profit rises 38%

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest lender by assets, said on Thursday its third-quarter net profit rose 38 per cent year-on-year, partly due to loan growth and steady low-cost funding that allowed the bank to benefit from higher interest rates.

Profit for the quarter was Dhs5.2bn ($1.42bn), roughly in line with analysts’ median estimate of Dhs5.18bn, according to LSEG data.

Emirates NBD income growth

The bank, majority owned by the government of Dubai, reported a 29 per cent rise in net interest income to Dhs7.8bn, while non-funded income rose 49 per cent to Dhs3.6bn.

At the end of September, total assets were up 16 per cent year-on-year to Dhs836bn, gross loans were up 8 per cent to Dhs494bn and deposits were 19 per cent higher at Dhs570bn.

Its non-performing loans ratio dipped to 5.5 per cent from 5.8 per cent a year earlier.

Impairment allowances dropped 54 per cent “as credit quality improved, reflecting the group’s prudent approach to credit provisions”, it said in its statement.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice chairman and managing director, said lending to small and medium businesses rose 34 per cent in the UAE, “supporting this important sector and bedrock of the economy”.