Emirates NBD, which happens to be one of the biggest bodies of the finance industry in UAE, has made a record breaking earnings for the three months period starting from the first quarter to March in the year 2024. The bank’s net profit, which is the money remaining after paying the costs and taxes of which there are 6.7 billion UAE DHS.
This was incredibly higher than for the prior year, around the same time. It turned out to be profits that amounted to 6 billion dirhams in the first 3 months of 2023- the bank. Therefore, 12% more profit was generated from the same company than in the past. Also, it was a very significant rise if we consider the comparative indicators, it is 2 times more than 11.5 billion dirhams, which they earned in the last three months of 2023.
Why were the profits so big?
There were a few key reasons why Emirates NBD was able to make such large profits in this period:
- Growth across the region – The bank has been expanding its operations in other countries like Saudi Arabia. Their branches and business in Saudi Arabia has more than doubled. This helped increase the amount of loans and business they did across the Middle East region.
- More retail customers – The bank lent a record 9 billion dirhams to individual customers like you and me for things like mortgages, car loans and personal loans. This part of their business is growing strongly.
- Recovering old loans – Some customers who took loans in previous years were not able to pay them back fully due to financial difficulties. But now with the economy stronger, many of these customers started paying back more of what they owed. This helped boost the bank’s profits.
- Lower costs – At the same time, the bank worked hard to reduce its operating costs by 8%. This included things like salaries, rent, technology costs etc. Lower costs mean higher profits.
- Growing deposits – More customers are keeping their savings in Emirates NBD accounts. The bank was able to attract 21 billion more dirhams in low-cost savings and current accounts. This gives them more money to use for lending.
- Success in other countries – The bank’s operations in Turkey and Egypt also did very well. In Turkey, its subsidiary bank DenizBank alone made 500 million dirhams in profit.
Overall, the record profits show that Emirates NBD is benefiting from economic growth in the UAE and region. As businesses and individuals are doing better, they can repay loans on time and banks earn more. The bank plans to use its strong financial position to keep growing its business across the Middle East and globally. It aims to open more branches and offer more digital services to attract new retail, corporate and wealth management customers. If economic conditions remain positive, Emirates NBD is well placed for another strong year of profits. Its success is also good news for the wider UAE banking sector and economy.
