National Bank of Abu Dhabi Q4 profit up 71pct
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the UAE’s largest lender by market value, reported a 71 per cent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday, above forecasts, as deposits grew and asset quality improved.
NBAD also said it has about $400 million exposure to Egyptian entities. The North African state has been racked by political unrest as protestors demand the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
NBAD had profit of Dh732 million ($199.3m) in the three months to December 31, up from Dh429m in the prior-year period, it said in a statement.
Analysts had forecast average profit of Dh672.9m, according to a Reuters poll.
The bank said full-year profit rose 22 per cent to Dh3.7 billion ($1.01 billion).
“(Last year) was not the easiest year for banking and we have continued to make substantial provisions for non-performing loans,” Chief Executive Michael Tomalin said in the statement, adding the lender still managed to hit $1bn in annual net profits for the first time.
Non-performing loans stood at Dh3.2bn, or 2.3 per cent of NBAD’s loan book while net impairment charges were Dh1.2bn in the year.
NBAD continued to lend conservatively in 2010, with loans and advances up just 3.5 per cent, but customer deposits showed signs of a come-back, up 6.5 per cent, excluding the government deposits which were converted into secondary capital.
Crisis-hit Egypt accounted for 3 per cent of the lender’s loans, 7 per cent of group assets and 4 per cent of its net income in 2010, NBAD said. The bank has previusly said it plans to expand further into Arab markets as well as Asia.
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