RAKBank H1 net profit rises 13.2% to Dh431M

dubai — The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBank) Group recorded a 13.2 per cent year-on-year consolidated net profit surge to Dh431.7 million for the first half of 2018.

The bank said its second quarter generated a net profit of Dh226.6 million, which was similar to the net profit achieved for the same quarter in 2017. Compared with the first quarter of 2018, net profit for the first half rose by 10.5 per cent, the bank said in a statement.

Peter England, RAKBank CEO, said the bank’s financial performance in the first half reflects the ongoing shift of business strategy to a more diversified balance sheet.

“In line with this shift, provisions have continued to come off gradually in the last seven quarters after peaking in the third quarter of 2016. Gross interest income has grown strongly, though funding cost has increased more than expected as a result of increased competition for deposits in the market. Regardless, RAKBank continues to maintain one of the lowest funding costs in the market due to our very strong SME franchise,” said England.

The bank’s gross loans and advances grew by 5.9 per cent to Dh35.2 billion for the half year with strong growth in wholesale banking book.

The bank said total assets increased by 5.2 per cent to Dh51.1 billion compared to the end of 2017. This was due to an increase in gross loans and advances of Dh2 billion and an increase in investments of Dh1.5 billion.

The healthy growth of corporate loans from the wholesale banking segment contributed to the increase of the gross loans and advances by 11.3 per cent year on year. Customer deposits grew by Dh1.6 billion to Dh33.8 billion, a five per cent growth compared to the end of 2017.