FGB, the third biggest lender by assets in the UAE, said it expects the bank’s loan growth to remain steady this year at between 9 per cent and 11 per cent despite the sharp drop in the price of oil.
“Every year is said to be a challenging year, but we’re still able to come out with strong loan growth,” Andre Sayegh, the chief executive, told reporters late on Wednesday.
Executives from the Abu Dhabi-based bank have said before that the bank is protected from the oil drop because it has diversified its client base in recent years.
FGB said its 2014 profit advanced more than 18 per cent to Dh5.66 billion from Dh4.77bn in 2013.
The bank said this week that it would distribute Dh3.9bn in cash dividends to shareholders. That represents 69 per cent of the bank’s profit versus a distribution of 63 per cent of its profit last year, it said.
Other banks, including National Bank of Abu Dhabi, reported record profit for 2014.
This came amid strong economic growth driven by government spending, but many economists, including those at HSBC and Standard Chartered, have lowered their 2015 forecasts for Arabian Gulf countries. Standard Chartered expects the UAE economy to grow 3.8 per cent this year, slowing from 4.5 per cent last year.
And that may start reflecting in bank earnings later this year, analysts said.
Crude oil has lost nearly 47 per cent since prices peaked last June amid an increase of supply from North American producers and waning demand from big emerging markets such as China.
The UAE Federal Government relies on crude oil exports to fund more than 60 per cent of its budget.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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