National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) said yesterday its second-quarter net profit rose 10.4 per cent to Dh1 billion (US$272.2 million) as lending income increased at the country's second-largest bank. Profits grew from Dh906.5m in the same period last year, beating analysts' forecasts. "These are a strong set of results in difficult markets reflecting the resilience and strength of the bank," said Michael Tomalin, the chief executive of NBAD.
The bank beat Credit Suisse's Dh967m profit estimate and the Dh907m projection from EFG-Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank, thanks largely to a jump in net interest income of 18 per cent from a year earlier to Dh1.2bn. NBAD also set aside smaller provisions for bad loans than in the same quarter last year. Impairment charges dropped to Dh238.3m in the second quarter from Dh285.9m last year. Although NBAD is not involved in Dubai World's restructuring of $23.5bn of debt with its bank creditors, it is owed money by Nakheel and Limitless, two of the conglomerate's biggest property units.
Last month, NBAD was granted a commercial banking licence in Malaysia, and sold 500m ringgit (Dh576.6m) of Islamic bonds under its first offering of debt there. @Email:tarnold@thenational.ae
