Noor Bank, one of the leading Shari’ah-compliant banks in the UAE, has announced a record net profit of AED410 million in H1 2019, notching up a 29 per cent increase over the first six months of last year and an 11 per cent increase on the 2017 full-year net profit.
Noor Bank’s revenue rose by seven per cent in H1 2019, with contributions from income via net financing and investments as well as non-funded income, generated through diversified performance across business lines in accordance with 2019 growth plans. Stringent expense management restricted cost growth to two per cent, improving the cost-to-income ratio to 33.5 per cent.
Noor Bank achieved a 16.1 per cent annualised return on shareholders’ equity. Reinforcing the Bank’s overall growth, total assets were up by four per cent, while customer financing increased by five per cent, and customer deposits rose by 11 per cent over H1 2018.
The Bank’s balance sheet remained robust with improving asset quality, and strong liquidity and capital ratios. The impaired financing ratio improved to 4.3 per cent, with cost of risk reducing to 1.9 per cent. The capital adequacy ratio reached 17.2 per cent, and the common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 11.5 per cent, a 1.1 per cent improvement over H1 2018.
John Iossifidis, CEO of Noor Bank, said: “We attribute our record results in H1 2019 to our robust balance sheet and solid performance across our businesses. Our disciplined cost management and lower impairment charges have significantly contributed to the surge in net profit with an improved cost-to-income ratio. The stable impaired financing ratio and high provision coverage are a testament to the enhanced quality of our financing book.”
He added: “Our continued focus on digitisation, innovation and staying true to our mandate of delivering outstanding customer experiences has ensured these positive outcomes.”
