Mubasher: The GCC banks saw positive performance during the first quarter of 2019, as total assets of these banks grew 1.3% quarter-on-quarter to $2.2 trillion in Q1.
Net loans went up 1.9% QoQ, the highest level since Q2-17, while the customer deposit growth eased, recording the lowest level in nine quarters.
As a result, the loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 81.6%, according to a report released by KAMCO research on Saturday.
Net interest income of GCC banks reached $14.2 billion. Non-interest income surged in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Consequently, net interest margin (NIM) stood at, as Saudi Arabia recording the highest NIM in the region, 3.6%, while UAE banks’ NIM registered 3.2%, KAMCO’s data showed.
“On the individual country front, UAE continues to boast the biggest share of total listed bank assets in the GCC recorded at $682 billion, or 31.3% of the total GCC banking assets. Saudi Arabia followed with total assets at $607 billion, or 27.8% at the end of Q1-19,” the investment company noted.
The economy of the GCC region is expected to see a marginal improvement in the near term, which may boost banking sector’s earnings, pushed by financing long-term projects in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and event-specific requirements, as in Expo 2020 in UAE and the world cup in Qatar in 2022.
