Emirates NBD delivered a record-high profit of AED19 billion ($5.17 billion) during the first nine months of 2024 with over AED100 billion in new loans to customers across its network. The group also revealed that income grew 7 percent in the third quarter of 2024, driven by strong loan growth, improving margins, and higher fee and commission income.
Assets under management surpass $40 billion
Emirates NBD’s Digital Wealth platform has propelled the group’s assets under management to over $40 billion as the product offering expanded to include fractional bonds and sukuks, equities, and mutual funds.
Emirates Islamic also delivered their strongest-ever results with a remarkable AED2.5 billion in profits as branch expansion into Saudi Arabia enabled KSA’s loan book to grow by a very impressive 49 percent in 2024.
“We are delighted with our expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the 19 branches and 59 dedicated ATMs drove an impressive 49 percent loan growth in the first nine months of 2024,” stated Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice chairman and managing director.
Loan growth propels profits
Emirates NBD said that profits grew 9 percent in the first nine months of 2024 due to significant loan growth, a low-cost funding base, strong transaction volumes, and substantial recoveries. The group revealed that total income also grew to AED32.9 billion on strong loan growth coupled with an excellent stable, low-cost funding mix.
The group’s deposit mix was a key strength so far this year, growing AED60 billion in the first nine months of 2024, including an AED33 billion increase in current and savings accounts. Meanwhile, the net interest margin improved to 3.75 percent in the third quarter of 2024 as DenizBank NIMs continued to improve on favorable loan pricing and stable funding costs.
“All business units achieved an outstanding performance with record retail lending, a one-third market share of UAE credit card spend, and corporate lending originating AED70 billion of gross new loans as it leverages the group’s regional presence,” noted Shayne Nelson, group CEO.
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Emirates NBD’s digital initiatives
Looking to the future, Emirates NBD aims to transform into a data-first, digital, and environmentally responsible regional powerhouse. The group is implementing generative AI across its business operations in partnership with Microsoft.
Moreover, it is identifying SME FX and trade opportunities by deploying AI and machine learning to analyze customer behavior and efficiently predict the need for FX and trade products.
In addition, it is deploying GenAI to streamline SME client onboarding by extracting relevant information from documents, speeding up onboarding, and reducing manual intervention, further improving client experience.
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