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Al Masraf: Enhancing the Banking experience through Comprehensive Services

CEO Faisal Galadari gives us an insight into the successful journey of Al Masraf.

Building on our achievements over the past years, we feel pleased with the 2016 results of the Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade, "Al Masraf".It was markedly echoed by our ability to commit to our ambitious strategy to fulfill the needs of our customers and maintain the best returns to our valued shareholders.
The unprecedented challenges all over the year, the hardest of which was the decline in oil prices as well as the ferocious competition, could not forestall the bank from recording profits of AED 433 million, adding another proof of the effective and successful strategy during the past three years.
"Al Masraf"' excellence was evident also in our ability to achieve sustained growth despite exceptional conditions and cut-throat competition. Our benchmark results boosted our determination. We recorded a growth rate in net profits of 7% in 2016 on a YOY basis totaling AED 433 million, compared to AED 405 million in 2015.Operating profits increased by 7% to AED 694 million. The growth in the bank's profits was in line with a 12% increase in the loan portfolio reaching AED 10.54 billion. We smoothly expanded our customer base and attracted new records of customer deposits which were rechanneled into the national economy.
Customersdeposits on the other hand, increased by 12% to AED 10.72 billion. The bank's assets increased by 18% to AED 17.8 billion. Not only did these indicators confirm the significant growth achieved by the bank in 2016, but also highlighted its ability to expand its credit portfolio and meet our commitments in serving our customers, especially in corporate banking, which is the most important sector in the bank's financing operations." Al Masraf" capital adequacy stood at 23.9 % complying with the UAE central bank guidelines and Basil III .It also reflects a high percentage that enhances our ability to expand our credit portfolio efficiently in an increasingly competitive market. 
Over the past three years, "Al Masraf" successfully implemented its strategy of continued growth and offering sophisticated products and services. We kept keen to achieve excellence in our business and abide to our conservative approach to risk management and retention of the best qualified personnel. Year 2016 was marked by the launch of our 2016-2020 strategy, which aims to enhance our financial performance by maintaining a strong balance sheet and continuing to achieve stable and sustainable growth while pursuing excellence in our various areas of business.
Enhancing our customers' convenience, we continued investing in modern technologies to enable our customers access our services and products easily through upgrading our website. Soon new applications for mobile phones will be launched also.
As for technical infrastructure, many initiatives were launched in the last 12 months to support our operations and products, while enhancing data security and protection .Some of these initiatives aim at enhancing the efficiency and smooth delivery of services.
To further improve our commitment to our credit card customers, we launched the loyalty program "Bank Points", providing them a wide package of offers and benefits including free air tickets, hotel residencies, free sports events tickets and other top-notch rewards that make "Bank Points" unique in the UAE.
"Al Masraf" strict commitment to the best quality in customer service represented in delivering the highest levels of efficiency and innovation, was vital in our winning of the" Sheikh Khalifa Award for Excellence" in 2016 in recognition of our efforts to provide the best products, financial solutions, and banking services.
For the second time in a row, the bank won the" STP Excellence Award", organized by Commerzbank AG in recognition of our outstanding performance and our commitment to meet the highest international standards in managing electronic remittance.
In 2016, the HR Department received the "ISO 9001: 2015" certification granted by "IPS" the American company, in recognition of the management efficiency and excellence in developing HR which enable us to fulfill the institutional vision and strategic objectives of the bank.
Launching a range of Shariah-compliant products and services in 2016 boosted our limits of attracting new customer deposits. These services and products were supervised by the Shari'a Supervisory Board, consisting of a number of prominent Shari'a scholars.
The introduction of world-class banking products and solutions that offer customers a unique banking experience, added a lot to our HNWI customers.
Emiratisation is still on the top of "Al Masraf" strategic objectives, that's why we continued to focus on enhancing the process of attracting more national talents. The UAE nationals make up to 930 in "Al Masraf" branches and 32% of our total people.
As part of our efforts to qualify national talents for leadership positions, we have developed a range of internal and external training programs to provide them with skills and capabilities needed for supervisory positions." Al Masraf" also played a leading role in recruitment fairs in the UAE in our efforts to attract national graduates.
In line with our strategy to expand our reach, we have opened a new branch in Raps Al Kamiah, which will offer a full range of banking services and products to companies and individuals. We plan to launch two other branches soon, one in Mustafa, Abu Dhabi and the other on Sheikh Bayed Road in Dubai.
Finally, I would like to express my grateful thanks and appreciation to the Board of Directors and all my colleagues for their efforts and dedication.
I would also like to thank all our customers and partners for their continuous cooperation and support without which these goals were unlikely. We confirm our commitment to achieve in future what is always beyond expectations.