Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank 2013 Q4 Profit Up 41%

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) reported a 41 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit helped by higher revenue from its core business, beating analysts’ forecasts.

Banks in the United Arab Emirates are reaping the benefits of a recovering economy, helped mainly by an upturn in the real estate sector together with reduced debt worries at some state-linked entities.

ADIB, Abu Dhabi’s biggest sharia-compliant bank by market value, made a net profit of Dhs343 million ($93.4 million) in the fourth quarter compared with Dhs242.8 million in the same period in 2012, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Three analysts polled by Reuters this month forecast an average net profit of Dhs316.33 million.

The bank’s net profit for the whole of 2013 grew 21 per cent to Dhs1.45 billion, the statement said.

Credit provisions were slightly lower in the fourth quarter at Dhs221 million, versus Dhs227 million the year before.

“The performance reflects the sustainable strength of our core banking business in that it did not rely on reversing non-performing accounts or reducing provisions,” said Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive of the bank, which also has property and brokerage businesses.

Revenues grew 18 per cent in fourth quarter to Dhs1.04 billion. Loans were up 21 per cent, totalling Dhs61.7 billion, while deposits jumped 23 per cent to reach Dhs75.5 billion.

The bank plans to pay a cash dividend of 31 fils per share.