Dubai – Mubasher: The Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) on Monday posted positive financial results for the first nine months of 2017, which showed that net profits more than tripled during the period compared to the year before.
The Dubai-listed bank’s net profit soared 368.15% to AED 498.49 million ($135.72 million) between January and September from AED 106.48 million ($28.99 million) in the year-ago period, according to an official statement.
At the level of the third quarter of 2017, EIB said it turned to profit after achieving AED 111.70 million ($30.40 million) in profits against AED 30.81 million ($8.39 million) in net losses in the comparative period of 2016.
EIB’s expenses decreased by 6.35% to AED 249.27 million in Q3-17 from AED 266.20 million in Q3-16, the bank’s data showed.
Commenting on EIB’s positive results, CEO Jamal Bin Ghalaita stated that “After a challenging 2016, our results have shown a strong improvement with a net profit of AED 498 million, […which] reflect[s] our policies of effective cost management combined with prudent risk management.”
EIB’s management will continue to “stringently manage” expenses, with operating cost down by 13% compared to the same period last year, the top official highlighted, noting that net impairment allowances improved by 41% year-on-year on the back of effective remediation and an improved cost of risk associated with both corporate and retail financing receivables.
EIB’s current and savings account balances represent 70% of total customer deposits, up from 67% at the beginning of 2017, bin Ghalaita revealed, noting that this reflects EIB’s focus on improving its average cost of funding.
“We are well positioned to benefit from current market opportunities as a result of our investment in technology and innovation. Digital transformation has been a key driver of improving the customer experience at Emirates Islamic,” the CEO stated, indicating that the bank’s recent digital initiatives included a revamped Mobile Banking app and QuickRemit foreign exchange transfers.
