As part of the executive management team at the National Bank of Fujairah, Adnan Anwar has spent much of the past 20 years helping the bank fend off a multitude of crises and shape its digital evolution.
As chief executive, he aims to transform and lift the more than 40-year-old lender from pretty much the bottom of the mid-tier UAE banks to become the top lender in the category, the strongest in terms of profitability.
The targets he set when he took the helm in October 2024 are achievable and the bank’s third record year of profitability in 2025 is a sign of things to come, he tells the The National in a interview in Dubai.
NBF has come a long way from a Dh475 million ($129 million) loss during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 to a Dh1.2 billion annual profit in 2025, crossing the Dh1 billion threshold for the first time in its history.
“It's down to the team. When you are constrained for resources you perform, sometimes out of your skin, and I think that's what we have delivered,” Mr Anwar says. “In five years, we have … written off loan losses of around Dh5 billion-plus and still we produced a solid, strong foundation and these record results.”
The bank has weathered the global financial meltdown, the pandemic-driven chaos, economic cycles and severe bouts of geopolitical volatility in the past two decades, emerging stronger each time, Mr Anwar says.
With solid foundations built, it is time to work on the “recipe of success” to take the bank into the next phase of growth.
2030 strategy
The bank has already put in place its four-pillar 2030 strategy that calls for net income to be doubled to more than Dh2 billion by the end of the decade, as well as the expansion of its asset base to more than Dh100 billion, from Dh69.4 billion in 2025.
NBF’s profit has risen over the past three years, hitting Dh725 million in 2023 and Dh850 million in 2024. Its asset base has also grown, jumping from Dh51.71 billion in 2023 to Dh60.87 billion in 2024.
When Mr Anwar took over as the bank's chief executive in October 2024, the goal was to double profitability in five years. However, the strategy cycle was moved to the end of the decade with a higher net income target. There is potential for NBF to achieve that ambition ahead of time, if the lender maintains the projected growth trajectory.
“The mindset, which everyone across the bank is anchored to, is how do we reach the Dh2 billion [profitability target]? That's the journey for the next five years,” he says.
Niche leadership
NBF currently has only about 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent share of the UAE banking market, but it is not pursuing the strategy of expanding its overall share. Instead, it is focused on solidifying its position in market niches where it already has a competitive edge, Mr Anwar says.
“We are not chasing size for the sake of it," he adds. "We want to build a stronger, solid franchise, well respected, well regarded in our areas of focus.”
In diamond trade finance business, for example, NBF is among the top three banks globally and the lender has a strong gold bullion financing business in the UAE as well.
“We are leaders in this market … in the precious metals, gold space, and we would want to grow more, as now silver and different other asset classes are also coming up,” Mr Anwar says. “This is our sector-orientated focus, same as marine financing, as not many banks get into that.”
In recent years, the bank has not only grown at a robust pace with its niche focus, it has also managed risks in these segments better than other players in the market, he says.
“Build the track record and specialism – that has been the recipe of growth for the bank in these sectors,” he says. “That's why market share is less important for me from just the volume play perspective.”
Drivers of growth
Small and medium enterprises along with NBF’s corporate and institutional business, have been among the main drivers of growth since the 2020 losses.
The lender has also built a strong treasury operation, with its fixed income and investment portfolio performing well.
“SMEs to mid-market corporate banking has been our strongest growth engine as we focus on low-cost liability-led growth,” Mr Anwar says.
The UAE banking sector grew significantly across the board after the pandemic, driven by strong liquidity flows from different parts of the world. “We [also] grew our investment portfolio to diversify liquidity and optimise returns” during the past five years," he says.
Currently, business banking and corporate and institutional banking businesses account for 35 per cent of the NBF’s revenue. Its treasury business generates about 20 per cent and retail raises about 8 per cent, while the bank’s Islamic window operations cut across all segments accounts for about 7 per cent of income.
Mr Anwar expects the revenue mix to change a bit by 2030, with NBF’s retail business rising to about 12 per cent and its business banking segment contributing about 40 per cent.
NBF’s loan book, which grew by 15.7 per cent year-on-year to Dh37.5 billion at the end of 2025, is expected to continue expanding as the bank aims for “consistent low double-digit growth for the next few years”, he says.
Budding wealth business
Similar to its peers in the UAE, NBF is looking to capitalise on the global migration of wealthy people to the UAE in the past few years. The bank launched its Al Samy proposition for high net worth customers in July last year.
But while bigger banks target ultra-wealthy clients with a net worth of $10 million or more, NBF aims to reach the "underserved" segment, focusing on those with a net worth of $1 million to $3 million.
“We see opportunities for underserved customers … and there is also room for better services [for them], usually reserved for $10 million clients at other banks,” he adds.
NBF's priority and priority plus services, offered through the banks retail platform, have received an “encouraging” response and a team of six wealth bankers have so far built a portfolio of $100 million in assets in a short span of time.
NBF is planning to boost the size of the team and invest more in wealth operations, with the aim of hitting $1 billion in assets under management before the end of this decade.
“We see big potential in this space,” Mr Anwar says.
Technology spending
Digitalisation of NBF’s products and services, as well as backend operations, is another area that has garnered a lot of attention and investment over the past few years. Changing the bank’s DNA from a conventional bank to become a “digital-first bank with a human touch” is the goal and the bank is committing Dh100 million a year to realise that objective, Mr Anwar says.
He expects technology spending to continue at the same pace for the foreseeable future to improve efficiencies and optimise costs.
“I think it will continue … it is no longer a matter of choice as the government and the regulator are [also] leading the digitalisation [drive],” he says.
“We are trying to look for solutions for how to leapfrog and utilise latest technologies to optimise further our customer service experience, as well as cost.”
NBF has already invested in a new corporate internet banking platform and upgrading its trade finance systems, as well as investing in the supply chain platform.
The bank, he says, has also initiated testing of artificial intelligence to be incorporated into its systems, but “delayed acceleration due to traceability concerns”. UAE Central Bank guidelines for financial institutions on the use of AI are a welcome step, he says.
“This year we plan to use AI in credit applications processes and customer service in areas of queries handling," he adds,
Weight of legacy
Mr Anwar took the reins of NBF from Vince Cook, who served as chief executive for almost 15 years, but there was there was no weight of his predecessor's legacy when he stepped up the ladder.
“I didn't feel that because I was part of that process in a way and I've learnt and was groomed throughout his tenure as well. I was responsible for his strategy,” Mr Anwar says. “And then there was four years of [being] deputy chief executive, working very closely.”
A chartered accountant by training, earlier in his career Mr Anwar worked in Saudi Arabia’s leasing sector, before joining Standard Chartered in Pakistan. He was headhunted to take charge of finance for NBF about 20 years ago.
He rose through the ranks and became chief financial officer in December 2005, when he was 30 years old. He held the top finance job at the bank for 15 years, before being made deputy chief executive in November 2020.
“I was lucky to get the opportunity here to expand myself. I was sent to Harvard for a leadership course, then pushed by Vince to get an MBA from London Business School with distinction while I was doing the job of CFO.”
The boardroom pressure and the weight of expectation did changed when he stepped into his current role. But Mr Anwar says, he is where he thought he would be after about 16 months in top job.
“Did things in the last 16 months go exactly as I would have expected? Of course not. It never happens," he says. "You get some surprises here and there. But in the big picture, it has moved largely in the direction where I would have thought."
He adds that he "didn't need to change things radically", but the focus on growth had to be "refreshed, had to be reset” to build on the momentum the bank built since 2020.
Mr Anwar’s vision for NBF is to become an “upper-tier bank” in the midsize pool of lenders in the UAE. “We are at the bottom of the midsize banks. The bank below us … is almost half of our size if not smaller," he explains.
“But the way I see it … once we get the recipe right – setting the right platform, people, process, technology and right customers, I think we can surprise on what we can achieve.”
