National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) has announced a net profit of Dh164.8 million in the second quarter of 2018, a rise of 13.4 per cent over the first quarter of 2018.
On the back of a strong second quarter, NBF reported a net profit of Dh310.2 million for the half year ended June 30, 2018 up 10.4 per cent over the corresponding period of 2017.
Operating profit recorded a year-on-year growth of 18.5 per cent reaching Dh519.9 million compared to Dh438.6 million in the corresponding period of 2017.
NBF's operating profit for the three month period was Dh271.9 million compared with Dh226.6 million in 2017; a jump of 20.0 per cent. Operating income for the six month period at Dh768.7 million saw a growth of 14.6 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2017. This was achieved by enhanced balance sheet management in a rising interest rate environment, efficient management of liquidity and effective pricing strategies that helped in improving margins and return on capital.
Net interest income and net income from Islamic financing and investment activities for the six month period grew by 21.7 per cent to Dh525.1 million compared to 2017. Foreign exchange and derivatives income experienced an outstanding growth of 36.7 per cent at Dh70.0 million for the six month period compared with Dh51.2 million in 2017.
"It gives us immense pleasure to see NBF maintain its growth trajectory through an unwavering focus on its core businesses, service capabilities and constant innovation to meet the changing needs of customers. Re-iterating that the financial performance has been a vast improvement to that seen at the end of December 2017, we are confident that the bank will overcome any further short-term challenges and perform commendably throughout the course of the year," said Easa Saleh Al Gurg, KCVO, CBE deputy chairman.
Operating expenses increased by 7.2 per cent, while cost-to-income ratio stood at 32.4 per cent compared to 34.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2017. Loans and advances and Islamic financing receivables rose 8.2 per cent from Dh24.1 billion at 2017 year end to Dh26.0 billion, and up by 8.9 per cent from June 30, 2017. The growth compares well relative to the marginal increase in credit growth at the industry level, reported in April 2018 in the UAE Central Bank's statistics report.
