FGB earnings slip 11% in Q4
dubai — First Gulf Bank (FGB), Abu Dhabi’s third-largest lender by assets, reported an 11 per cent fall in fourth quarter net profit on Tuesday, but narrowly beat analysts’ expectations.
FGB, which is being merged with rival National Bank of Abu Dhabi, made a net profit of Dh1.53 billion ($416.6 million) in the three months to December 31, it said in a statement. Full year 2016 revenues stood at Dh9.58 billion, up two per cent year-on-year. Excluding property-related gains, fourth quarter revenues are up nine per cent year-on-year, reflecting strong core banking performance.
Abdulhamid Saeed, FGB’s managing director and board member, said: “FGB delivered a resilient performance in 2016, amidst challenging operating conditions. The bank’s solid results reflect consistent bottom line growth for the 17th year in a row, which is an extraordinary accomplishment. Maximising value for our stakeholders has been the hallmark of our growth story from day one. For our shareholders, this translated to total returns of around 40 times since FGB shares were listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange in June 2002.”
André Sayegh, chief executive officer of FGB, added: “I am extremely pleased with our performance in 2016. I reiterate that FGB’s business model is built on a solid, yet dynamic strategy, demonstrating resilience in a challenging global operating environment, thus resulting in a record group net profit of Dh6.03 billion. Our strong set of results is testament to the success of the strategic actions we have implemented in order to navigate volatile global operating conditions.”
“As a result of our focused efforts to safeguard strong fundamentals, our net interest margin held up well in the fourth quarter and our liquidity position is always optimised and maintained within regulatory requirements. The quality of our assets is excellent, our non-performing loan ratio is at a seven year low of 2.3 per cent with a provision coverage of 121.1 per cent.”
— With inputs from Reuters