First Abu Dhabi Bank’s net profit jumps 50 percent in Jan-June 2022 period

The bank’s total income in the first half was AED12.5 billion, up 31 percent year-on-year.

The total H1 revenue included AED3.1 billion net gain on the sale of a majority stake in Magnati, the bank said in a statement.

Hana Al Rostamani (below), Group chief executive officer of FAB, said the bank delivered a strong performance in the first six months of 2022 despite heightened global market volatility.

“Our core businesses maintained solid growth momentum reflecting healthy pipeline execution across our diversified franchise and our ongoing strategic focus on deepening client relationships,” Al Rostamani said.

The bank extended about AED50 billion in net incremental lending on a year-to-date basis – a record for the Group for any half-year period – reflecting a buoyant regional activity.

James Burdett (below), FAB’s Group chief financial officer, said the bank ended the second quarter with a net profit of AED2.9 billion – up by 13 percent on a sequential basis – bringing first half 2022 profit to AED8.0 billion.

The bank’s annualised return on tangible equity for the first half of 2022 improved to 19.5 percent from 13.6 percent in H1’21.

Burdett said the strong performance in the second quarter, led by double-digit growth in investment banking and corporate and commercial banking, was aided by strong volumes, early benefits from rising interest rates, and healthy client activity in global markets.

FAB’s operating costs reached AED3.1 billion, up 8 percent YoY, excluding Bank Audi Egypt inclusion.

The loans, advances and Islamic financing amounted to AED459 billion in the second quarter, up 6 percent sequentially and 12 percent year-to-date (ytd).

The bank’s customer deposits reached AED648 billion, up 8 percent sequentially and 5 percent ytd.

FAB’s common equity Tier 1 (CET1) was at 12.6 percent, comfortably above regulatory requirements.