RAK Bank recorded 12.7% rise in its Q1 profits to Dh160.37m

RAK Bank yesterday announced 12.7 per cent growth in first quarter profits to Dh160.37 million over the same period last year mainly due to growth in personal banking.

The bank's net interest income increased by 34 per cent to reach Dh248m.

Gross loans and advances stood at Dh11.9bn, a five-per cent increase over end of year 2008 and a 30-per cent increase over the first quarter last year. Fee, commission and other income marginally rose to Dh118m.

"RAK Bank has continued to actively seek new lending opportunities and has seen growth in a number of segments, including those of small businesses, personal loans, mortgages and credit cards," said Graham Honeybill, General Manager. "Despite interbank rates easing, cost of customer deposits has remained high, and this has impacted the level of profitability this year, compared to that seen in previous years," he said.

"Nevertheless, and in spite of the market's challenging conditions, RAK Bank's business has registered very healthy growth in the first quarter across its product offering."

The bank's capital adequacy ratio at the end of the quarter stood at 16.45 per cent, against a minimum of 10 per cent as prescribed by the UAE Central Bank. Total assets at the end of the quarter were Dh14.5bn, a four-per cent rise from the end-2008 and a 23-per cent rise compared to end of Q1 last year. The growth in assets was due to a rise of Dh600m in loans and advances.

RAK Bank's investment portfolio was at Dh520 million at the end of the quarter against Dh645m at the end of last year, the decline being due to maturity of investments. The bank has said it intends to hold all investments to maturity with no loss expected on any of its investments. The bank has no direct or indirect exposure to any sub-prime or similarly structured product.

Customer deposits reached at Dh10.56bn and up by Dh903m from December 31 2008 due to a combination of term and transaction deposits.

In the first quarter, a $100m tranche of the medium term notes programme matured.

 

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