Business | Banking
First Gulf Bank net profit rises 68% in third quarter
First Gulf Bank (FGB) on Tuesday reported a net profit of Dh850 million for the third quarter, a 68 per cent jump over the same period last year.
- Staff Report
- Published: 15:45 October 21, 2008
Dubai: First Gulf Bank (FGB) on Tuesday reported a net profit of Dh850 million for the third quarter, a 68 per cent jump over the same period last year.
Net profit for the first nine months of this year stood at Dh2.33 billion, that's 68 per cent higher than the Dh1.38 billion generated during the first nine months of 2007.
Deposits increased by Dh5.5 billion during the third quarter of 2008 to Dh66.7 billion, despite the global economic slow-down.
During the first nine months of 2008, FGB demonstrated its ability to consistently show excellent profitability and efficiency ratios with annualised return on average assets at 3.5 per cent, annualised return on average equity at 23 per cent and Cost to Income Ratio at 21 per cent. By the end of September 2008, non-performing loans to gross loan ratio was at only 0.6 per cent, and the provision coverage was almost 200 per cent.
The earnings per share was Dh1.70 for the first nine months of the year, compared to Dh1.11 for the same period of 2007.
Net interest income and Islamic financing income is 93 per cent higher than the same period last year, reaching Dh1.80 billion. This was generated by a strong balancesheet, where the total assets crossed the Dh100 billion mark for the first time to reach Dh104 billion, 42 per cent higher than December 2007 and 68 per cent higher than September 2007. The net interest margin improved from 2.71 per cent for the full year 2007 to 3.03 per cent for the first nine months of 2008.
Abdul Hamid Saeed, FGB's managing director stated, "Our ongoing objective has been to build First Gulf Bank as a balanced diversified financial institution. We have demonstrated our strength by continuously focussing on building our equity and increasing our deposits along with consistent financial results."
As much as 77 per cent of FGB Group's net profit for the first nine months of 2008 was generated by the main banking businesses - corporate, retail, treasury and investments - while the remaining 23 per cent was contributed by FGB's two subsidiaries and three associate companies.
"During the third quarter, FGB issued mandatory convertible bonds worth Dh3.6 billion to UAE institutional strategic partners," added Saeed.
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