The National Bank of Abu Dhab, NBAD, has reported net profits of AED1.372 billion in Q4, 2014, marginally higher and up 28 percent year-over-year.
For the full-year ended 31st December 2014, net profits were AED5.579 billion, up 18 percent for the year. This represents diluted EPS of AED1.12 for FY 2014 versus AED0.95 for FY 2013.
Year-over-year growth was driven primarily by strong fee income growth across all lines of business, solid loan growth, increases in deposits and CASA as a percent of deposits, and solid gains in the investment portfolio.
The bank’s strong profit growth led to solid returns on shareholder funds, RoSF, of 16.8 percent in FY’14, an increase from 15.6 percent in FY’13.
Nasser Alsowaidi, Chairman of NBAD said, “In the fourth quarter and full-year 2014, NBAD once again delivered strong revenue and earnings growth whilst maintaining a solid balance sheet and strong capital position. The bank now ranks 25th, up from 35th, among the “World’s 50 Safest Banks” as ranked by Global Finance magazine.
NBAD has continued to be a regional leader by introducing innovative initiatives. These included a significant rebranding effort, unique partnership with Real Madrid, ongoing efforts to bring customer service to world-class levels and continuing as the “Official Bank of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”, a sponsorship renewed in the fourth quarter which has been held since the inception of the race in 2009. Through these initiatives and many other initiatives, NBAD continues to demonstrate its firm commitment to Abu Dhabi and the UAE.” “The bank’s overall performance in 2014 was very good, and I believe the bank is well positioned for even more success in 2015 and beyond.” Alex Thursby, Group Chief Executive, said, “I am pleased with our fourth quarter and full-year 2014 results, which provide further evidence that our long-term strategy continues to gain traction. In 2014, we generated solid, underlying profitable growth across our businesses, and we are confident that this momentum will continue to accelerate as we look forward to 2015. At the same time, we have invested substantially in building a world-class team, enhancing the IT and infrastructure ‘spine’ of our business, building the NBAD brand and maintaining a strong capital and liquidity position.” “This year has been a transformational year for NBAD, and I am proud of the progress we have made toward becoming a client-focused bank. We have continued to strengthen our position in the UAE by enhancing our client service, product offerings and capabilities across all of our businesses. Our leaders and client teams are focused on deepening relationships with our chosen customers in the UAE and across the West-East corridor within our five chosen industry sectors,” he added.
“In 2014, our Global Wholesale Banking division took the lead in driving landmark transactions, including the Emaar Malls IPO, first-ever Sukuk for non-Islamic sovereigns from both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong SAR and many others. As a result of this leadership, we have made significant moves in the league tables, ranking #3 for GCC bonds, MENA syndicated loans and International Sukuk, improving from #8, #11 and #6 respectively in 2013.
In Retail and Commercial, we made significant progress in transforming our model as we have invested to refurbish our branch network and provide e-banking and mobile banking platforms. These actions will lead to a much greater customer experience, more cross sell opportunities and deeper penetration in the UAE market over time,” said Mr. Thursby.
Global Wealth had another strong year in 2014, generating double digit AUM growth, year-over-year revenue growth of 61 percent and consistently winning numerous awards and accolades as the best in the region.
“We are just now entering the second year of a 5-year transformation. I believe we are well on our way to success; however, there is still a significant amount of work to be done. As we enter 2015, I am confident that we will continue to execute against our strategy to build deeper and more meaningful relationships with clients. We will also invest to modernise the bank to a world-class level, ultimately driving sustainable underlying revenue growth and generating higher returns for shareholders over time,” he said.
In 2014, global economic growth was modest and grew around 2.3 percent. The most important factor impacting economic growth was the significant drop in oil prices in the fourth quarter.
Global growth trends in 2015 are currently expected to be similar to conditions experienced in 4Q 2014, with growth being driven primarily by oil importing economies such as China, India and the U.S. as oil exporting countries experience headwinds resulting from lower oil prices, he said, adding, “In 2015, the UAE economy is expected to grow modestly year-over-year. The oil sector is expected to contract slightly while economic growth will be driven largely by the diversified non-oil sector and by structural factors including a stable political environment, diversified economy and strong banking system.”
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates
