National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) operating profit jumps 18.5%, reflecting solid business growth and proactive asset and liability management

National Bank of Fujairah PJSC (NBF) is pleased to announce its results for the three month period ended 31 March 2016.

Highlights:

• Operating income experienced a growth of 14.0%. Net interest income and net income from Islamic financing and investment activities grew by 9.2%, net fees and commission income by 17.0% and foreign exchange and derivatives income marked a growth of 10.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2015.
• Operating expenses increased by 6.2%, reflecting on-going investment in NBF’s business and service platforms and disciplined cost management. Cost-to-income ratio improved to 33.7% from 36.2% (March 2015) in 2016 on the back of operational and cost efficiencies.
• Operating profit was AED 223.1 million compared to AED 188.3 million in the corresponding period of 2015; a rise of 18.5%. Furthermore, fee to income ratio stood at 38.2% compared to 35.5% in the corresponding period of 2015.
• NBF continued with its prudent and transparent approach towards loan loss provisions. Net impairment losses were AED 72.6 million compared to AED 38.8 million in the corresponding period of 2015 and AED 75.8 million in Q4 2015. The NPL ratio was 4.8% compared to 4.7% as at 31 December 2015. Specific provision coverage ratio, however, improved to 64.5% from 59.7% in the corresponding period of 2015. Total provision coverage ratio was maintained at 107.3% as at 31 March 2016 compared to 107.7% as at 31 December 2015.
• NBF posted a net profit of AED 150.5 million compared to AED 149.5 million in the corresponding period of 2015, depicting a growth of 0.7% year on year against an exceptionally strong Q1 in 2015 and significantly higher than the AED 104.9 million reported in Q4 2015.

• Loans and advances and Islamic financing receivables of AED 20.8 billion were up by 5.9% from AED 19.7 billion at 2015 year end, and up by 17.7% from 31 March 2015.
• Customer deposits and Islamic customer deposits of AED 23.1 billion were up by 7.1% from AED 21.6 billion at 2015 year end, and up by 25.4% from 31 March 2015.
• Shareholders’ equity of AED 4.3 billion was up by 0.7% from 2015 year end, and up by 10.1% from 31 March 2015.
• Strong capital adequacy and lending to stable resources ratios were maintained at 17.9% and 85.7% respectively, well ahead of Central Bank minimum requirements.
• Return on average assets was 1.9% and return on average equity was 14.0%.
• NBF successfully upgraded its core banking system to further improve its service delivery across multiple channels.
• Moody’s re-affirmed NBF’s rating at Baa1 / Prime-2 for deposits and A3 for counterparty risk assessment with a stable outlook, highlighting the bank’s underlying strength, prudent risk management and resilience. 

H.E. Sir Easa Saleh Al Gurg, KCVO, CBE Deputy Chairman said:

“We are pleased to report that NBF has managed to maintain its impressive growth momentum in 2016. Most importantly, it was able to deliver a solid set of results that were not just a year-on-year improvement from an exceptional first quarter for the bank in 2015, but a vast improvement to that seen at the end of December, when market conditions were arguably at their toughest for some time. The bank’s profile was further enhanced recently when it was listed amongst the top 50 most successful publicly-listed companies across the GCC in Trend’s Top CEO Awards based on an objective analysis of financial performance, corporate governance and disclosure practices.

The bank’s resilience and the stable outlook for our rating from Moody’s is a reflection of our unwavering focus on effective risk management, good governance, focused business planning and execution to achieve high quality and sustainable results. With this encouraging start to 2016, I am confident that the bank will prevail over any further short-term challenges and continue to perform admirably throughout the course of the year.”