Dubai: Noor Bank on Wednesday reported record net profit of Dh85 million for first quarter 2014 compared to Dh31 million for first quarter 2013.
Noor Bank’s total assets grew 9 per cent to Dh25.2 billion, compared with Dh23.2 billion during the first three months of the year. Total customer financing increased by 14 per cent to Dh16.3 billion as customer deposits grew by 11 per cent, reaching Dh20.7 billion.
“Our solid first quarter results demonstrate the consistency of our earnings momentum driven by the business strategies which we implemented last year” said Hussain Al Qemzi, CEO, Noor Bank and Group CEO, Noor Investment Group.
The bank’s return on equity at the end of the quarter was 14 per cent.
Noor Bank also saw its strong underwriting performance during the quarter. The bank was ranked number one in both Bloomberg’s full-year 2013 EMEA Islamic syndicate book runner, and Islamic syndicate mandated arranger league tables.
Innovation strategy
As part of its innovation strategy, the bank launched online commodity murabaha financing transactions for one of its large SME clients on the Tradeflow platform of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). The platform allows for greater Sharia compliance as the assets are in existence in the UAE, and are accessible for inspection and full possession.
“Our business strategy continues to focus on providing unique and relevant solutions to fulfil the needs of our customers across wholesale, capital markets, corporate, commercial and personal banking. As we move through 2014, I remain optimistic about the opportunities ahead for both Noor Bank and the UAE, and believe the franchise is well-capitalised and positioned for balanced and sustainable growth,” said Al Qemzi.
