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Emirates NBD profit climbs 45%

Emirates NBD, the largest Gulf Arab lender by assets, said on Tuesday second-quarter net profit jumped 45 percent on strong lending and fee income, topping two analysts' forecasts.

Emirates NBD said it earned 1.47 billion dirhams ($400.3 million) in the three months to June 30, posting profit growth in line with a forecast by its chairman this month.
"The primary drivers for this growth were continued strong growth in loans and deposits, focus on growing fees and commissions income," Emirates NBD said, without giving a breakdown of net interest income and fee income.

Total customer loans rose 42 percent to 187 billion dirhams, it said.

Analysts in a Reuters survey last month forecast net profit of 1.30 billion dirhams and 1.35 billion dirhams.

The Dubai government created Emirates NBD last year through the state-sanctioned merger of Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai.

Banks in the world's biggest oil-exporting region have been growing rapidly as economies surge on a more than six-fold rise in oil prices since 2002. Gulf governments have poured billions of dollars into developing infrastructure, real estate and industry, creating massive lending opportunities for banks.

Emirates NBD, which posted profit of 1.196 billion dirhams in the first quarter of this year, said costs climbed 45 percent to 931 million dirhams in the second quarter. The cost-income ratio fell to 37.4 percent, it said.

The integration process was ahead of schedule with annualised synergies of 200 million dirhams - 61 percent above its 2008 target, it said.

Total assets hit 286 billion dirhams at the end of June, up 12.4 percent from the end of 2007.

Like its rivals in the region, Emirates NBD is seeking expansion in Asia, the Gulf Arab region and Turkey, Chairman Ahmed Al-Tayer said earlier this month. (Reuters)

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