Union National Bank Group’s consolidated profit for the first half of 2008 up by 41% to reach AED 764.6 million
The UNB Group’s profit for the current period was AED 764.6 million against AED 542.4 million during first half of 2007. Union National Bank’s consolidated net profit attributable to equity shareholders reached AED 759.7 million for the first half of 2008 as compared to AED 538.1 million for the corresponding period of 2007, an increase of 41.2%. The net profit for the second quarter of 2008 of AED 424.1 million, compared to AED 284.6 million, increased by 49.0% quarter-on-quarter, reflecting solid growth in business and income from the core banking activities.
Key performance metrics have further improved with attributable return on average equity of 22.4% (30 June-2007: 18.2%) and return on average assets of 2.5% (30 June – 2007: 2.5%) for the first half of 2008. The efficiency ratio (cost to income) for the six month period ended 30 June 2008 improved to 28.4% (30 June 2007: 29.9%) at the back of robust growth in revenues.
The loans and advances grew to AED 47.3 billion as at 30 June 2008 (30 June 2007: AED 31.5 billion), an increase of 50.4% period-to-period. To support the growth in business customers’ deposits increased by 53.6% to record AED 47.7 billion as at 30 June 2008 (30 June 2007: AED 31.1 billion). Overall the consolidated total assets reached AED 64.7 billion as at 30 June 2008 (30 June 2007: AED 45.3 billion), a solid growth of 43.0% over the corresponding figure for the prior period.
As part of the strategy to be a key player in the region, Union National Bank (UNB) has been establishing presence in its identified target markets. UNB received approval from the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) to set up a branch in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
During the first half of 2008, Union National Bank launched the open-ended Al Samaha Islamic Fund, a Shariah compliant fund investing mainly in the UAE and with the flexibility to seek opportunities in other GCC countries, MENA and other emerging equity markets. The fund aims at investing in Shariah compliant equities to achieve long term capital appreciation.
Among other significant advances, UNB acted as the Mandated Lead Arranger, Facility Agent and Security Agent for the AED 1.04 billion syndicated term loan facility for Arkan Building Materials Company PJSC.
Speaking on the results, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mohammad Nasr Abdeen said that the sustained growth was a testament to the management’s focus on its core activities which saw all round improvement in key performance indicators.
