National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) net profit jumps 15.3%, reflecting solid core business growth and proactive asset and liability management
Continued growth trajectory maintained on the back of strong partnership with clients and customer centric resilient business model
National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) is pleased to announce its results for the three month period ended 31 March 2018.
Highlights:
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Operating profit was AED 248.0 million for the three month period compared with AED 212.0 million in 2017; a rise of 17.0% demonstrating its continued focus on quality core business growth and profitability.
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Operating income at AED 369.2 million saw a growth of 13.7% compared to the corresponding period of 2017. This was achieved by enhanced balance sheet management in a rising interest rate environment, efficient management of liquidity and effective pricing strategies that helped in improving margins and return on capital.
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Net interest income and net income from Islamic financing and investment activities for the three month period grew by 17.8% to AED 244.3 million compared to 2017.
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Foreign exchange and derivatives income experienced a remarkable growth of 43.6% at AED 36.3 million for the three month period compared with AED 25.2 million in 2017.
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Operating expenses increased by 7.6%, reflecting NBF’s disciplined cost management, prudent investments in our businesses, systems and infrastructure, including a set of digital initiatives to enhance our future offerings and customer service. Cost-to-income ratio stood at 32.8% compared to 34.7% in the corresponding period of 2017.
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NBF’s prudent provisioning policy resulted in net impairment losses of AED 102.6 million for the three month period compared to AED 85.9 million in 2017. The NPL ratio was 5.50% compared to 5.53% as at 31 December 2017. Total provision coverage ratio (including credit risk reserve) improved to 96.2% from 89.5% as at 31 December 2017.
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Loans and advances and Islamic financing receivables rose 4.8% from AED 24.1 billion at 2017 year end to AED 25.2 billion, and up by 8.7% from 31 March 2017. The growth compares well relative to the marginal increase in credit growth at the industry level, reported in December 2017 in the UAE Central Bank’s statistics report.
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Customer deposits and Islamic customer deposits stood at AED 27.79 billion compared to AED 27.86 billion at 2017 year end, and up by 4.8% from 31 March 2017.
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Shareholders’ equity stood at AED 4.7 billion compared to AED 4.9 billion at 2017 year end, and up by 2.8% from 31 March 2017.
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Strong capital adequacy and lending to stable resources ratios were maintained at 16.7% (Tier 1 ratio of 14.3%) and 90.0% respectively, well ahead of Central Bank’s minimum requirements. Further, eligible liquid assets ratio (ELAR) remains as one of the highest at the industry level at 19.9%.
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At the NBF’s Annual General Assembly Meeting held on 18 March 2018, shareholders approved the conversion of additional tier 1 capital notes of AED 500 million into ordinary shares at a conversion factor of AED 2.85 per note and authorised the Board of Directors for seeking all requisite regulatory approvals and execute conversion. The regulatory approvals are in progress and the conversion would further augment the common equity tier 1 (CET 1) ratio. The shareholders also approved the increase in the ceiling of additional tier 1 capital by USD 500 million for planning the capital in line with the bank’s growth strategy.
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Return on average assets was 1.6%, up from 1.4% for the corresponding period in 2017.
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Return on average equity was 12.1%, up from 11.0% for the corresponding period in 2017.
H.E. Sir Easa Saleh Al Gurg, KCVO, CBE Deputy Chairman said:
“The bank’s positive start to 2018 continues to reaffirm the efficacy of our long term partnership with customers, strategies and our solid financial position. Most importantly, NBF was able to deliver a good set of results that were not just a year-on-year increase, but a vast improvement to that seen at the end of December 2017.
In Q1 2018, we continue to be honored with a number of prestigious awards and endorsements, underscoring NBF’s long-standing culture of service excellence and client partnership. We are particularly delighted that the bank has been awarded the Best Customer Service – Corporate and Investment Banking, Best Treasury Management, Best SME Trade Finance Offering, Best Priority Banking Service and Best Emirati Ladies Proposition awards at the recent Banker Middle East UAE Product Awards 2018.
With this encouraging start to 2018, we are confident that the bank will prevail over any further short -term challenges and continue to perform admirably throughout the course of year."
About National Bank of Fujairah PJSC:
Incorporated in 1982, National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) is a full services corporate bank with strong corporate and commercial banking, treasury and trade finance expertise as well as an expanding suite of personal banking options and Shari’a compliant services. Leveraging its deep banking experience and market insight within Fujairah and the UAE, NBF is well-positioned to build lasting relationships with its clients and help them achieve their business goals.NBF’s key shareholders include the Government of Fujairah, Easa Saleh Al Gurg LLC and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Rated Baa1/Prime-2 for deposits and A3 for counterparty risk assessment by Moody’s and BBB+/A-2 by Standard & Poor’s, both with a stable outlook, the bank is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange under the symbol “NBF”. It has a branch network of 18 across the UAE.