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National Bank of Abu Dhabi's Q1 profit at Dh1.4 billion

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, or NBAD, earned Dh1.406 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, a flat growth year-on-year, reflecting improving underlying fee and forex incomes and investment gain trends.

Net interest income was up 2.7 per cent year-over-year, the nation’s second-biggest lender by assets said in a statement. The net interest income results reflect continued pressure on margins.

Net interest margin for the quarter on an average total assets basis was 1.84 per cent, down 13 basis points year-on-year, resulting from abundant liquidity, re-pricing of risk as the economy recovers and increased deposits placed across highly liquid but lower-yielding asset classes.

Net fees and commissions continued to grow and were up 28.7 per cent year-over-year. Net forex income and investment gains were up sequentially as a result of continued momentum in flow of businesses.

Nasser Alsowaidi, chairman of NBAD, said: “In the first quarter, NBAD once again delivered solid financial results.”

Non-performing loans, or NPLs, increased by Dh111 million to Dh6.124 billion in the quarter year end 2013. As of March 31, 2014, the NPL ratio stood at 3.31 per cent of the loan book and has gradually come down from a recent high of 3.55 per cent recorded in the same period last year.

Asset growth of 11.1 per cent sequentially and 12.2 per cent year-over-year to Dh361.3 billion in the quarter was primarily led by increased liquidity.

Net loans and advances decreased 2.9 per cent in the period compared with the fourth quarter of the last year. However, lending grew 9.9 per cent year-over-year to Dh178.5 billion. The sequential decline was due to maturing loans and repayments while year-over-year growth was driven by loan growth across domestic and international businesses.

Customer deposits grew by 11.3 per cent sequentially and 14.3 per cent year-over-year to end the year at Dh235 billion. There was a significant inflow of government-related entities deposits in the first quarter.

The bank continues to experience a strong and encouraging buildup of current accounts and savings deposits with a growth of 9.2 per cent quarter-over-quarter and 37.4 per cent year-over-year.

Trade contingencies were Dh95.2 billion, 22.9 per cent year-over-year as the bank continues to gain momentum and executes against its growth strategy of generating more non-funded revenue from the flow of trade across the West-East corridor.

Alex Thursby, group chief executive, said: “Our results reflect a continuation of the momentum we began to see in the third and fourth quarters of 2013.”

— haseeb@khaleejtimes.com