NBAD earnings flat amid loans slowdown

National Bank of Abu Dhabi said on Wednesday that its third-quarter profit was flat as a gain in fees and commissions was outweighed by a drop in income from loans.

NBAD said fees and commissions were up, but income from loans was down in the latest quarter. Silvia Razgova / The National

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the emirate’s biggest lender by assets, said on Wednesday that its third-quarter profit was flat, as a gain in fees and commissions was outweighed by a drop in income from loans.

The bank’s profit fell by 0.5 per cent to Dh1.32 billion in the three months ending September, from Dh1.326bn in the same period a year ago.

Net interest income decreased by 1.4 per cent to Dh1.8bn compared with Dh1.83bn in the corresponding period last year, while non-interest income rose by 14.9 per cent to Dh877 million from Dh763m. Meanwhile, customer loans fell by 3.2 per cent to Dh205.3bn at the end of September, compared with Dh212.1bn for the same period last year, amid an industry-wide slowdown in loan growth.

Revenues were up 3.4 per cent to Dh2.68bn from Dh2.59bn a year ago.

“We achieved this performance during a period of seasonal slowdown and ongoing challenging market conditions, while we continued to maintain expense discipline along with strong capital and liquidity positions,” said Abhijit Choudhury, the bank’s acting chief executive.

“Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we are aiming to continue to deliver solid underlying net profit growth while maintaining our conservative risk profile.”

NBAD and FGB, its biggest competitor in Abu Dhabi, this week invited shareholders to separate general assembly meetings on December 7 to approve their merger.

In July, the banks said their boards had unanimously voted to recommend to their shareholders a merger of the two Abu Dhabi-listed banks, in what would create a lender with US$175bn in assets, the largest in the Middle East.

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