UNB profit grows 16.8% to Dh1.17b

Dubai: Union National Bank (UNB), an Abu Dhabi-based lender, yesterday reported 16.8 per cent growth in consolidated profit, reaching Dh1.17 billion last year, compared to the corresponding figure for the previous year, a statement said.

"Due to the ongoing investments in the group's infrastructure, expansion in the branch network and the new businesses, as also the inflationary pressures the operating expenses increased by 28.7 per cent in 2007 over the previous year. An important yardstick to measure efficiency, the cost to income ratio, was satisfactory at 29.4 per cent [2006: 25.4 per cent]," the statement said.

The profit attributable to the equity shareholders of the bank was Dh1.16 billion for the year ended December 31, an increase of 15.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

"All the main lines of businesses registered high growth leading to an overall increase in business and profits for the UNB Group. The return on average equity for 2007 was 18.7 per cent, reflecting the solid growth in net profit."

The net loans and advances grew by 35.9 per cent, increasing to Dh37.4 billion as of December 31, 2007, from Dh27.5 billion as of December 31, 2006. The bank continues to be active in the area of loan syndications and participated in various prominent deals during the year.