Sharjah Islamic Bank profit surges 7% to Dh510 million

The Shariah-compliant lender proposed eight per cent cash dividend for the shareholders.

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) posted a net profit of Dh510.4 million in 2018 compared to Dh477.7 million in 2017, showing an increase of seven per cent.

The Shariah-compliant lender proposed eight per cent cash dividend for the shareholders.

Total operating income reached Dh1.7 billion in 2018 compared to Dh1.5 billion in 2017, an increase of Dh225.8 million or 15.2 per cent. Total fees and other income from investments and subsidiaries increased by Dh21 million or 4 per cent to reach Dh541.3 million in 2018, whereas net operating income reached Dh1.1 billion in 2018 compared to Dh0.9 billion last year, recording an increase of Dh154 million or 16.5 per cent.

The balance sheet reflects the bank's strong performance and sound financial position, with total assets reaching Dh44.7 billion at the end of December 2018, growing by 17 per cent compared to Dh38.3 billion at the end of 2017.

The lender noted that liquid assets reached Dh9.7 billion or 21.6 per cent of total assets at the end of December 2018. Financing facilities reached Dh24.1 billion compared to Dh21.7 billion in 2017, showing an increase of Dh2.4 billion or 11 per cent.

SIB successfully attracted more deposits during the year as customer deposits increased by 18.5 per cent, amounting to Dh4.1 billion to reach Dh26.4 billion compared to Dh22.3 billion in the previous year.

During 2018, Sharjah Islamic Bank issued a $500 million five-year sukuk as part of its $3 billion medium-term notes sukuk programme.

Sharjah Islamic bank's strong performance reflected positively on its financial indicators. The Basel III capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.690 per cent by the end of 2018, far above the UAE Central Bank's minimum requirement of 12.375 per cent.

Sharjah Islamic Bank has a large local branch network of 34, supported by 149 ATMs distributed across all emirates.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com