UAE Bank NBAD Expects Costs To Jump 10.9% In 2015 – CFO

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) expects operating expenses to increase to Dhs4.1 billion ($1.1 billion) in 2015, its chief financial officer said, a 10.9 per cent jump on the previous year, according to Reuters’ calculation.

The United Arab Emirates’ largest lender by assets reported a marginal increase in first-quarter net profit as a rise in interest income and lower bad loan charges were offset by a 28.5 per cent hike in expenses.

James Burdett told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday that costs would stabilise around the figure posted in the first quarter.

“Our approach is to invest into transforming the bank early and let the revenues catch up,” Burdett said.