Dubai’s Emirates NBD Q1 net profit rises 4%

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, reported a net profit of AED 1.87 billion for the first quarter of 2017, a 4 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase underpinned by a control on expenses and an improved cost of risk.

Growth was supported by progress in non-oil activity in the United Arab Emirates and improved business sentiment due to higher and more stable oil prices, the bank said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Net interest income improved 1 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) due to loan growth coupled with an improvement in margins. Core gross fee income increased 27 percent QoQ and 7 percent YoY on the back of higher income from forex and rates, it added.

Impaired loan ratio improved to 6.3 percent and the impaired loan coverage ratio stood at 122.5 percent.

Tier-1 Capital Ratio declined to 17.8 percent as retained profit was more than offset by the payment of the annual dividend, the bank said.