Dubai: Emirates NBD recorded a 44 per cent jump in 2019 net profit as it benefited from loan growth as well as higher credit card-related income.
Full-year profits were at Dh14.5 billion, up from the Dh10 billion in 2018. The increase came as net interest income jumped 34 per cent year-on-year and fee and commission income grew 38 per cent.
The bank said in a statement that the increase in net interest income was due to loan growth, while non-interest income grew due to higher foreign exchange and credit card income. Emirates NBD gave out Dh437 billion in loans in 2019, up 33 per cent year-on-year after it acquired DenizBank and benefited from its loan growth.
The bank in July 2019 completed the acquisition of one of Turkey’s largest banks, Denizbank, after obtaining necessary approvals.
Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice-chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD, said the DenizBank acquisition helped increase the Dubai bank’s presence to 13 countries, servicing over 14 million customers in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey.
“In 2019, the bank raised its foreign ownership limit to 20 per cent and signaled its intention to further increase the limit to 40 per cent in due course,” he said. “This supports the vision and goals of the country’s leadership to make the UAE the region’s most attractive economy for foreign direct investment.”
