Dubai: Mashreq has posted first-half 2018 net profit of Dh1.2 billion up 5.2 per cent compared to Dh1.1 billion in the same period in 2017.

For the second quarter of this year the bank reported a net profit of Dh563 million compared to Dh557 million in the same quarter last year and Dh598 million in the first quarter of 2018.

Total operating income improved 3.7 per cent in the first half of this year to Dh3.1 billion, year-on-year, compared to Dh3 billion reported in the same period last year.

“We recorded a positive year-on-year net profit increase of 5.2 per cent amounting to Dh1.2 billion for the first half 2018. Our balance sheet shows healthy liquidity and capitalisation metrics, well above the required regulatory standards. Our prudent risk management approach has also resulted in our provisions now covering 179.1 per cent of non-performing loans,” AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Net interest income and income from Islamic financing increased by 5.2 per cent year on year to Dh1.9 billion. Total non-interest income increased by 1.4 per cent as the decline in fee, commission and investment income was compensated by a 24.2 per cent increase in FX, insurance and other income.

Net fee and commission income represented 59.1 per cent of total non-interest income in the first half of 2018 as compared to 61.9 per cent in the same period last year 2017.

Mashreq’s total assets increased by 1.4 per cent to reach Dh127 billion in the first half of 2018, compared to Dh125.2 billion at the end of 2017.

Total customer deposits

Loans and advances increased by 7.9 per cent year to date to Dh67.7 billion driven by 6.8 per cent growth in conventional finance. Liquidity continues to remain healthy with a high liquid asset to total assets ratio of 25.9 per cent.

Total customer deposits increased by 2.3 per cent in the first half of the year to Dh77.8 billion due to an increase in both conventional deposits & Islamic Deposits. Loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 87 per cent in June 2018 vs 82.5 per cent at year-end 2017.

Asset quality continued to improve as net impairment allowances for the first half 2018 were at Dh589 million compared to Dh652 million in the same period last year. Total provisions for loans and advances reached Dh4.2 billion, constituting 179.1 per cent coverage for Non-performing loans as of June 2018.

Operating expenses for the first half increased by 11.5 per cent year on year to reach Dh1.3 billion; Efficiency Ratio at 42.2 per cent in the first half 2018, was higher 39.3 per cent in the same period last year due to increased investment in technology and branch transformation project resulting in higher operational efficiencies.

“We have achieved increased operational efficiencies thanks to an agility-based model which adopts new cognitive technologies and cloud services within our back-end systems. We have also integrated bot-based digital workers for transactions translating into a quicker, more seamless and improved customer experience,” Al Ghurair said.

Mashreq’s Capital adequacy ratio as per Basel III stood at 17 per cent as of June 2018 Tier 1 capital ratio was at 15.9 per cent at the close of the first half of this year compared to 16.2 per cent at year-end 2017.