Union National Bank making big efforts to move into GCC region

In 2006, the Abu Dhabi based lender expanded its operations into Egypt through its acquisition of the Alexandria Commercial and Maritime Bank (now known as the Union National Bank Egypt).

“In the GCC, I think there is good potential, particularly if you talk about Qatar, Saudi Arabia and to a certain extent, Kuwait. We’re trying to establish a presence there, we have a presence in Qatar, but in the other GCC countries, we’re making some big efforts to establish a presence,” Mohammed Abdeen said.

“We’re planning reasonable growth and diversified business in different sectors, so that if any sectors are affected, then we can still grow and do good business. We are not talking about emerging markets as our size does not help us grow in all these markets, ” he added.

Earlier in the year, the lender had begun investing in Abu Dhabi construction projects, and Abdeen said that despite it being a ‘calculated risk’, the projects represented an important part of their business.

“Abu Dhabi has a very strong economy, of that there is no doubt, and they have very good plans which take into account the big 2030 plan. Construction represents a proper, important part of their business. We understand the business in Abu Dhabi and we know exactly the risk that we’re going to take,” he said.

In the wake of the downturn, the bank adopted a conservative strategy, which Abdeen said allowed them to take into account all the cycles of the economy and prevent any major surprises.

In the last two quarters of 2010, the lender saw its net profit increase by 28 percent in the third quarter and by 25 percent in the second.

“We have a stable policy and we take into account all the expected cycles of the economy, as such, the big economic problems did not affect us badly,” Abdeen explained.

“I think it depends on how you plan and how you see your business in the future. If you plan properly, then you’ll see that the surprises are very little,” he concluded.