Tabulation notes: Coverage and methodology

Tables compiled by Andrew Shouler and designed by Edmond Colaco.

The UAE banking sector consists of 46 banks, as nominated by the Central Bank of the UAE, comprising 21 national and 25 international banks.

All were invited to submit data for our half-yearly tables. They are drawn from the reviewed, unaudited interim accounts, documented by the banks themselves.

Table-I: Total Assets (pdf)

Table-II: Net Profit (pdf)

Table-III: Income and Expenditure (pdf)

Table-IV: Capital and Reserves (pdf)

Table-V: Deposits, Loans and Advances (pdf)

Table-VI: Overall Profitability (pdf)

Of the nationals, only Dubai Bank is missing from the resulting set of numbers, whereas only a handful of series were made available by foreign banks operating in the UAE. With incomplete sets, totals have not been compiled.

In respect of balance sheet statistics, the basic comparison made is between the 2006 half-year and 2005 year-end, in accordance with the data received. Therefore, percentage growth figures are over the six months.

As for income statement data, the comparison instead is of the counterpart half-year periods, i.e. first half with the corresponding period the previous year, likewise as presented.

We have again attempted to interpret the data for general consistency and fair review, whilst recognizing that integrally there may still be minor discrepancies in treatment through differing reporting methods, as well as coping with the major difference between non-Islamic and Islamic approaches.

Whilst definitional terms may be open for discussion, for the purposes of this compilation therefore the method of computation is as follows: (a) income is specified as including netted interest income, (b) expenditure is specified as including provision for impairment losses, net of recoveries (positive or negative), with the result that (c) net profit should equal income minus expenditure, subject to any adjustment for tax and minority interests.

In the case of Islamic banking, the definition of loans and advances used incorporates appropriate murabaha and ijara business, otherwise termed Islamic financing receivables. Equally, income has been adjusted to account for distributions to depositors.

It should be noted that the foreign banks are taxed at 20 per cent in the UAE, whereas the locals are untaxed. We have opted again for the pre-tax profit figure, for the virtue of better comparability with local data.

As a whole, inevitably there are a few examples of non-recurring items impacting significantly income or expenditure data in particular.

It might also be noted that, because the foreign players are reporting the activities of their UAE operations, while the national banks are counting all business (including overseas), complete comparability is affected, although in reality only slightly.