Dubai's Emirates NBD clears Dh1 trillion balance-sheet milestone in Q1-2025

Dubai: Emirates NBD’s profit before tax stirred up a sharp 56% quarter-to-quarter growth to Dh7.8 billion for the first three months of 2025. The key fundamentals - 'lending momentum, improvement in deposit mix and new products' - were all in play.

Net profit too was up 56% q-to-q to Dh6.2 billion. But on a year-to-year basis, Emirates NBD's net profit is down from the Dh6.7 billion for Q1-2024. The Dubai bank's balance-sheet cleared the Dh1 trillion milestone, in large part helped by the 'impressive' loan and deposit growth.

Deposits grew by 5%, driven by a 'record' Dh27 billion increase in current and savings account balances.

"All business units achieved an outstanding performance as they delivered higher income year-on-year," said Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD.

Loans were up Dh18 billion - and with more than half of the increase sourced from the growing International network. Emirates NBD is among the handful of leading UAE banks that have incrementally built up a network outside as well, and the Q1 numbers show some of that work is indeed paying off.

"In Egypt, inflation is continuing to come under control which should allow the private sector to expand while Turkey’s monetary policy is helping to curb inflation," said Emirates NBD in a statement. The entity has a sizable presence in these markets.

When it comes to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, 'oil production is due to increase in both this year, while revenue diversification is helping to provide some insulation to the economies from volatility in oil price."

"The Group’s ability to substantially grow income is a direct benefit of the strategic investment in our regional footprint, digital and GenAI, helping to offset the impact of lower interest rates," said Shayne Nelson, Group CEO. (The US Fed had trimmed interest rates over the recent past, which has also been immediately reflected in the UAE banking sector.)

The bank has also been working on its higher margin offerings, especially the recent arrangement with BlackRock to expand access for Emirates NBD's high networth clients to private market options.

There is also the UAE bank's 35% market share of local credit card spend, with over Dh50 billion in credit and debit card spend in Q1-25.

Overall income for the bank during the first three months were Dh11.9 billion, against Dh10.7 billion a year ago.