Dubai: Dunia, an Abu Dhabi-based company in which sovereign fund Mubadala Development Company owns a stake, posted a 61.4 per cent increase in net profit for 2013 as customer deposits and net interest income grew over the previous year.

The net profit stood at Dh118.48 million as the number of customers jumped 21 per cent to 138,000. Total deposits crossed Dh500 million, up 24 per cent over 2012.

“Our unrelenting focus on empowering people, enabling success and enriching lives has provided the opportunity to form close relationships with customers, which is delivering growth in a consistent and sustainable way,” said Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, chairman of dunia.

Rajeev Kakar, executive director and CEO, added: “Our dedicated approach to acquiring and nurturing customer relationships is the driving force behind another year of strong results. We remain committed to sustaining our growth strategy by increasing our customer base and deepening relationships, while launching new products and services.”

The net interest income grew 35 per cent over the course of last year to post Dh259.65 million.

The financial company, which is also part owned by Fullerton Financial Holdings of Singapore, Waha Capital of Abu Dhabi and A.A. Al Moosa of Dubai, delivered a positive operating leverage in 2013 of 16 per cent during the year. Its absolute costs increased by only 10 per cent when compared to 2012, while revenue grew by 26 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Dunia’s focus on improving efficiency in its operations was reflected in its improving and healthy cost-income ratio, which dropped to 42 per cent in 2013, as compared to 48 per cent in the prior year.

The capital adequacy of the consumer financial services company, which targets mass affluent and mass market customers along with small and medium enterprises, continued to be healthy and stable, standing at 32.4 per cent by the end of the financial year, which was higher than the regulatory requirement of 15 per cent.

The company secured for the first time a healthy viability rating of ‘BB-‘ and a standalone Long-term Issuer Default Rating of ‘BB-’ by Fitch and that Kakar said was reflective of their effort to continuously improve financial performance, prudently manage risk, and to ensure a sound balance sheet.

Dunia announced its maiden interim dividend of Dh8.8 million in July 2013 and has now announced a final dividend of Dh8.8 million for 2013. With this, the total dividend for 2013 amounted to Dh17.6 million.