Commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates are expected to post net profit growth of about 20 percent in 2013, the chairman of the Gulf state’s banking federation said on Wednesday.
UAE banks such as Dubai lender Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi posted strong second-quarter earnings thanks to an economic recovery in key sectors, primarily real estate, and lower provisions as the Gulf state recovers from debt troubles at Dubai’s state-linked entities.
“Banks here (the UAE) managed to overcome challenging global and regional conditions. We expect banks to report a 20 percent growth in net profit in 2013,” Abdulaziz al-Ghurair, chairman of the banking federation and chief executive of Dubai lender Mashreq, told reporters in Dubai.
Total assets of UAE banks grew 8 percent to 1.9 trillion dirhams ($517 billion) in the first six months of this year, while net profit during the period was 13.6 billion dirhams, al-Ghurair said.-Reuters
