Commercial Bank of Dubai sees Q1 net profit of Dh241m

Dubai - Loan book growth was across all business segments at the bank

Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) on Wednesday said its first quarter net profit declined by 18.4 per cent to Dh241 million compared to Dh295 million for the same period last year.
The bank's operating income was also slightly lower by 0.8 per cent to Dh576 million in the March quarter of 2016 compared to Dh581 million for the same quarter last year, mainly due to a lower non-interest income on account of lower business volumes and drop in share of profit of associate companies.
"The bank's liquidity and capital adequacy ratios remain strong. The bank will continue to focus on growth in selected sectors and boost its revenues by improving its share of wallet and cross sell to its customer base," its CEO said.
The bank's operating expenses increased by 8.5 per cent from Dh192 million in the first quarter of 2015 to Dh208 million in the first quarter of 2016. It said the increase is mainly attributable to investment in distribution network and digital banking platform to support the bank's strategic initiatives to grow the personal and business banking business segments. Cost-to-income ratio stood at 36.2 per cent.
CBD set aside Dh127 million as net impairment allowances during the quarter. Loans and advances were up 15.9 per cent to Dh38.8 billion at the close of the first quarter compared to Dh33.4 billion in the same period last year.
Loan book growth was across all business segments. Personal and business banking net loans were at Dh6.8 billion; registering an increase of 28 per cent when compared to the Dh5.3 billion as at end of Q1 2015. Corporate and commercial banking net loans were at Dh31.9 billion as compared to Dh31.4 billion as at end of Q1 2015.
Customer deposits were 18.5 per cent higher year on year at Dh41.1 billion and up by 1.6 per cent compared to year end 2015.Current and saving accounts constituted nearly 46.4 per cent of total deposits as at end of March 2016 compared to 42.6 per cent as at end of December 2015, while loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 94.3 per cent.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com