Union National Bank (UNB) announces results for 2007

The profit attributable to the equity shareholders of the Bank was Dhs1,168.4m for the year ended 31 December 2007, an increase of 15.9% compared to the previous year. All the main lines of businesses registered high growth leading to an overall increase in business and profits for the UNB Group. The return on average equity for 2007 was 18.7%, reflecting the solid growth in net profit.

Commenting on the results Mr. Mohammad Nasr Abdeen, Chief Executive Officer stated "The performance of the UNB Group in 2007 witnessed all round improvement with healthy growth being reported from the core banking activities. The Group continues to invest in new markets and lines of businesses in keeping with its stated strategy which should enable us to maintain the growth impetus going forward".

The net loans and advances grew by 35.9%, increasing to Dhs37.4bn as at 31 December 2007 from Dhs27.5bn as at 31 December 2006. The Bank continues to be active in the area of loan syndications and participated in various prominent deals during the year. Customer
deposits registered a healthy growth of 33.8% year-on-year to reach Dhs40.2bn as at 31 December 2007. As a result total assets exceeded the Dhs50bn mark to reach Dhs55.4bn, an increase of 33.4% on a year-on-year basis.

Due to the ongoing investments in the Group's infrastructure, expansion in the branch network and the new businesses, as also the inflationary pressures the operating expenses increased by 28.7% in 2007 over the previous year. An important yardstick to measure efficiency, the cost to income ratio, was satisfactory at 29.4% (2006: 25.4%).

The Group continues to successfully implement its strategy to be a key player in the region. Al Wifaq Finance Company and Union National Bank, Egypt (formerly Alexandria Commercial and Maritime Bank) both continue to make good progress and are firmly establishing their footprints in their respective markets. Recently, the Bank received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to open a representative office in Shanghai, China. With the opening of this office later in 2008, UNB will have presence in two other countries besides its home market of UAE. Plans are also in place to establish a Real Estate entity, based on the approvals received from the Central Bank of the UAE.