Dubai's CBD reports 28% per cent profit rise as operating income climbs

Net profit for three months to end of September jumps to Dh362m

A logo sits on display outside a Commercial Bank of Dubai PSC main bank branch in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. Abu Dhabi is engineering a second bank merger in its latest attempt to stay competitive in the era of lower oil prices. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg
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Commercial Bank of Dubai reported a 28.27 per cent increase in third quarter net profit as operating income climbed and impairment allowances reduced.

Net profit for the three-month period ending September 30 rose to Dh362 million, the lender said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade. The bank reported quarterly operating income of Dh732m, a 6.1 per cent year-on-year increase.

Strong earnings are a result of "fostering a culture of growth and disciplined execution of our well-planned strategy," the bank's chief executive, Bernd van Linder, said in the bourse filing on Wednesday. "We anticipate a consistent result in the fourth quarter and remain on track to deliver a record result for the full year.”

CBD will continue to invest in new technology and is actively pursuing its digital transformation programme to expand and improve its services, he added.

The net interest and income from Islamic financing also jumped to Dh504m during the three-month period this year, from Dh489m reported a year earlier, it said.

Impairment allowances for loans and advances and the bank's Islamic financing portfolio dropped to Dh164.1m at the end of September from Dh199.4m during the same period in 2018, the bank said.

For the first nine months of 2019, the bank reported a net profit of Dh1.063 billion, a 26.1 per cent increase over the same period last year. Operating income was up 11.1 per cent year-on-year to Dh2.24bn, driven by higher net interest income and other operating income.

Net impairment allowances also declined during the first nine months of the year, dropping 2.6 per cent to Dh526m.

Total assets climbed to Dh82.5bn as at September 30 2019, an increase of 13.9 per cent compared to Dh72.4bn during the same period in 2018.

The bank said its customers’ deposits increased 17.2 per cent to Dh59.1bn during the nine-month period.