Mashreq reports impressive nine months results achieving net profit of Dhs1.5bn

Total assets of the group reached Dhs94bn, up 26.7% from Dhs74.2bn at end of September 2007. Customer deposits reached Dhs51.7bn, representing an increase of 17.7% over last year's deposits of Dhs43.9bn, whilst customer advances have grown by 59.8%, to Dhs56.1bn from Dhs35.1bn.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq, said:

"The UAE Banking sector remains resilient. Mashreq enjoys a long history of more than 41 years of trust of customers in the UAE. As the results shows, Mashreq is in a very healthy status. We are committed to our expansion plans locally and regionally. The 2009 plan includes opening 12 new branches in the UAE and 10 new branches in Egypt."

The growth in total assets contributed to a marked increase in net interest income, and income from Islamic products net of distribution to depositors at Dhs1,431m, compared to Dhs852m for the same period last year, registering a growth of 67.9%. Net Fee, Commission and Other Income also recorded an impressive growth of 43% over last year. However, investment income reduced from Dhs553m to Dhs75m mainly due to the decline in valuations and poor liquidity in the global and regional markets. Total Operating Income registered an impressive growth of 23.8% to reach Dhs3.2bn against Dhs2.6bn of last year.

For the 3rd quarter of 2008 the Net Interest Income witnessed an increase of 70%, while the Net Fee Commission and Other Income and Operating Income for the three months period ended 30 September 2008 showed 40% increase over the 3rd quarter of 2007. The operating income went up by 14% as compared to same period last year. However due to decline in Investment income the net profit of third quarter of 2008 is Dhs346Millions which is 12.5% lower then the net profit for the same period in 2007.

Mashreq continues to invest in human resources, infrastructure development and technology. This has resulted in the expenses for the six months of 2008 being higher than same period last year by 35%.

Since the start of the year, Mashreq opened seven new branches taking the total number of UAE outlets to 54. Badr Al Islami, the Islamic arm of Mashreq opened two Badr Business outlets located at Al Riqa and Park Place. By the end of 2008, Mashreq plans to open a total of 11 Badr Business centres to help cater to the growing demand for Islamic finance.

Adding to Mashreq's growing product portfolio the company launched the new Etisalat Mashreq credit card to provide customers free redeemable talk time. Customers can now shop anywhere using the card and are awarded 'more' points which are then redeemed for free Etisalat mobile talk time.

Mashreq was also named the 'Best Bank in the UAE' for the fourth time by the 'Euromoney Excellence Middle East' awards. The selection was based on key criteria such as; transaction volume, market share, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative technologies. Capital Intelligence, the international rating agency also raised the long-term and financial strength ratings to A+ from A. The increased rating is due to Mashreq's continued strong financial performance, solid asset quality, and good liquidity, which are the principal rating drivers supporting the upgrade.