Dubai: The Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) on Tuesday reported a net profit of Dh890.1 million for the first nine months of 2014, up 18.4 per cent when compared to Dh751.5 million for the same period last year.
The bank’s third-quarter net profit was up 21.2 per cent at Dh309 million compared to Dh255 million in the corresponding period last year. Quarter on quarter, CBD’s net profit was up 4.3 per cent compared to Dh296.2 million reported in the second quarter of 2014.
“This is the seventh consecutive quarter in which the bank’s net profit has grown over the previous quarter. The improving macro-economic indicators in the UAE have resulted in a growing loan book, strong liquidity and capital adequacy metrics and improving asset quality ratios,” said Peter Baltussen, chief executive officer of CBD.
Operating income for the nine months period was up 10.5 per cent at Dh1.62 billion compared to Dh1.46 billion for the same period last year. Operating profit for the first nine months of this year increased by 8.7 per cent to Dh1 billion
CBD’s total assets grew 10.1 per cent to Dh46.5 billion as at the close of the third quarter of this year, compared to Dh42.3 billion in the same period last year.
The bank’s loans and advances grew 3.5 per cent to Dh30.4 billion during the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year.
The bank reported a 40 per cent increase in personal banking loans to Dh4.2 billion in the first three quarters of this year compared to the same period last year.
On the liabilities side, CBD’s customers’ deposits were up 10.6 per to 31.8 billion during the first 9 months of the year compared to the same period last year.
“With an increasing contribution from personal banking to the bank’s bottom line, backed by stable returns from the corporate and commercial segments, the bank is projected to book robust net profit in 2014 and beyond,” Baltussen said.
Overall asset quality metrics continued to strengthen as the impairment provisions net of recoveries fell from Dh260 million booked in the first nine months of last year to Dh210 million for the current year.
At the close of the third quarter, the bank reported strong liquidity with advance-to-stable resources ratio of 81.7 per cent and a liquidity coverage ratio calculated as per Basel III guidelines at 135.6 per cent.
CBD’s capital adequacy and Tier-1 capital ratios were at 20 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively at the close of the third quarter of this year. While the bank’s return on average assets for the nine months improved to 2.6 per cent, return on average equity increased to 16.8 per cent for the first nine months of 2014 as compared to 15.3 per cent for the same period last year.
