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RAK Bank posts 8.3% surge in Q1 net profit

Distribution, product development under focus.

Dubai — RAKBank reported on Thursday a 8.3 per cent rise in net profit to Dh 362.2 million for first quarter on the back of improved operating income and expense ratios.The bank’s gross loans and advances grew by 15.8 per cent year-on-year and stood at Dh26.7 billion by the end of the quarter, RAKBank said in a statement.

Total operating income for the quarter   increased by 13.1 per cent year-on-year to Dh932.3 million due to a rise in net interest income. Non-interest income was up by 7.2 per cent to Dh198.8 million compared to the same period last year mainly due to an increase of 11.4 per cent in fees and commission income.

Peter England, the bank’s CEO, said the first quarter financial results reflected stable earnings, healthy liquidity, and a strong capital base. “The key contributing factor is growth in gross loans and advances, which were up by Dh863.9 million year-to-date as a result of strong signs of growth during the quarter across most business units especially RAKFinance, Auto Loans, and Business Banking. Traditional working capital and trade loans to the SME and Commercial Banking segment grew by around 130 per cent year-on-year and our trade finance portfolio surpassed Dh2 billion.” The bank said during the first quarter, it continued to invest in its distribution network, product development, and electronic solutions.  “As a result of these investments and a rise in employment costs to support business growth, operating expenses increased by 4.8 per cent year-on-year to Dh377 million by the end of the first three months of 2015. Nevertheless, cost-to-income ratio dropped to 40.4 per cent.”

The total impairment charge for the three months increased by Dh62.7 million year-on-year to Dh193.1 million as the provision coverage ratio closed at 84.6 per cent.

“This rise is largely due to an increase in provisions in Personal and RAKFinance loans, the overall growth in our loan book, and the bank’s commitment to a long-term sustainable performance as we continue to take further precautionary provisions on our restructured book,” the bank said.

“That being said, non-performing loans (NPL) and net credit loss (NCL) remain very reasonable given the fact that we are largely an unsecured lender,” said England.  NPL stood at 2.7 per cent of the gross loan portfolio and the annualised NCL to average loans and advances closed at 2.98 per cent.

Assets of the bank grew by Dh2.5 billion year-to-date as a result of loans and advances and deposits with other banks.  Total assets stood at Dh41 billion by the end of the quarter. 

On the back of an increase in current and saving accounts as well as Islamic banking deposits, which grew by 11.5 per cent to Dh2.9 billion, customer deposits were up by Dh1.5 billion year to date to Dh29.9 billion.  

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio as per Basel II requirement at the end of the quarter is 24.2 per cent against a current minimum total capital ratio of 12 per cent prescribed by the UAE Central Bank.

 —  issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com