Emirates NBD’s 2022 net profit rises 40% to $3.5bn

Reuters/ Hamad I Mohammed

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest lender, reported a 40 percent jump in 2022 net profit to AED13 billion ($3.5 billion) on Thursday, helped by higher interest rates and transaction volumes which boosted overall income.

The bank, majority owned by the government of Dubai, made a profit of AED3.9 billion in the fourth quarter, up 94 percent from a year earlier.

Higher interest rates and increased transaction volumes supported a 36 percent jump in 2022 total income to AED32.5 billion, boosting profit. Total assets grew eight percent to AED742 billion.

“We maintained strong income growth momentum, kept a firm control on costs and benefited from writebacks and recoveries, reflecting a healthy regional economy,” Shayne Nelson, group chief executive officer, said.

Although the bank said new corporate lending grew by AED50 billion last year, total gross loans were down one percent to AED456 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, as sovereign lending declined. Total deposits grew 10 percent in 2022 to AED503 billion.

Provisions for bad loans were down 12 percent last year, which the bank said was due to “robust provisioning actions in previous periods”.

Emirates NBD proposed a 20 percent increase in dividend to 60 fils a share on the back of strong financial results.