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NBAD ranked among world's 50 safest banks
National Bank of Abu Dhabi has been ranked among 50 safest banks in the world in 2009 by Global Finance. The World's 50 Safest Banks 2009 were selected through a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world.
Arab Bank cuts housing loan interest rate
Arab Bank has lowered its interest rate by 0.5% to 8.25% for its customers in Jordan who take out a housing loan starting September 1, 2009. The lender has lowered prime interest rates twice this year, in addition to lowering interest rates on new personal, auto and housing loans.
Amlak records Q2 net loss
Amlak Finance, the UAE mortgage lender, posted a second-quarter net loss excluding minority interests of Dhs65.6m ($17.9m), compared with a profit of Dhs143m a year earlier, Bloomberg has reported. Revenue had declined to Dhs191m from Dhs346m as the company made impairment provisions of Dhs67m. Income from financing and investments had dropped to Dhs169m from Dhs204m, the company has said.
Abu Dhabi Finance launches non-resident mortgage
Abu Dhabi Finance has launched a mortgage called Compass, aimed at salaried non UAE-residents who want to buy residential property in the capital. It will offer up to 75% mortgage finance. Those who are self-employed will get a maximum of 70% finance. The minimum loan amount will be Dhs250,000, with the maximum depending on the individual applicant's circumstances. Loan length is up to 30 years or when the applicant reaches 70 years old. Applicants can also pay up to 10% of the outstanding loan once a year without incurring early repayment charges.
Al Baraka plans Syrian unit IPO
The initial public offering for Al Baraka Banking Group's Syrian affiliate will open on October 4 and run for one month. "We have to raise $35m, which is 35% of the capital, and it has to be sold for Syrians only," General Manager Mamoun Darkazally told Gulf Daily News. The bank plans to start operations in January next year with a capital of $100m, he added. Bank Bemo Saudi Fransi is managing the sale. Emirates Islamic Bank has a 10% stake in Al Baraka's Syrian unit.
Shuaa Capital issues new shares
Shuaa Capital says it has received necessary permission to issue 515 million new shares to Dubai Banking Group, WAM has reported. The shares represent a 48.4% stake in the company. Dubai Banking will receive the shares in exchange for Dhs1.5bn ($408m) of convertible bonds, the company said.
Noor launches Dubai airport exchange service
Noor Islamic Bank has launched foreign currency exchange services at its Dubai Airport Terminal 3 branch, the Gulf News has reported. It will include buy and sell services at market rates for all major GCC and international currencies and instant money or bank transfers to over 170 countries.
Islamic banks assets grow 66%
The combined assets of top 100 Islamic banks have increased 66% in 2008, defying recession trends, according to a report by The Asian Banker in its annual ranking of the world's top 100 Islamic banks by assets. The report has mentioned Islamic finance assets are largely concentrated in Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE while banks in Bahrain, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, and the United Kingdom have also reported significant double or triple-digit asset growth.
United Gulf Bank rating affirmed
Capital Intelligence has affirmed long- and short-term ratings for Bahrain-based United Gulf Bank's at BBB+ and A2 respectively. The outlook for the ratings remains stable. This reflects the lower level of exits combined with the difficult investment market, the credit ratings agency said.
Moody's to review Gulf Bank ratings
Moody's Investors Service has put on hold all its ratings of the Kuwait-based Gulf Bank for further downgrade, Bloomberg has reported. Gulf Bank "still faces challenges despite its progress in overcoming the distress caused by large losses arising from transactions in complex derivative instruments during the year," Stathis Kyriakides, a Moody's analyst said.
Saad and Algosaibi owe Saudi banks approx $5bn
Standard Chartered has said that Saudi-based conglomerates, Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros, owe Saudi Arabian banks some $5bn, Bloomberg has reported. Analysts believe that the exposure, although significant, must be put into the context of a system with equity of about $50bn.
Moody's downgrades NBK's BFS rating
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded National Bank of Kuwait's bank financial strength rating to C+ from B-. The bank's long-term Global Local Currency deposit rating and long-term foreign currency deposit rating, were both affirmed at Aa2. Moody's said NBK's Aa2 long-term foreign currency deposit rating carries a negative outlook, due to the outlook on Kuwait's Aa2 country ceiling for such deposits. All other ratings have a stable outlook, it said. The rating action was prompted by Kuwait's weakening credit conditions over the past year, particularly in sectors where NBK has material industry and single-party exposure. These sectors include real estate and construction and lending for purchasing securities.
Gap between loans and deposits narrows
The funding gap between total loans and deposits at UAE banks narrowed to Dhs45.9bn in July, down 3% from the previous month, as bankers lost much of their appetite for lending during the recession. Total loans and advances by UAE banks declined by 0.2% in July to Dhs1.01trillion compared with corresponding figures for June. Bank deposits rose by 0.2% to Dhs964.1bn over the same period, the Central Bank data showed. (Mac Capital Advisors)
High provisions push up FGB's profits in long run
High loan loss provisions will stifle growth in the net profits of the Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank (FGB) in the short term, but they are expected to nearly double in four years, according to Global Investment House. GIH has projected the net income of the UAE's fourth largest bank to climb by about 5.6% to almost Dhs3.17bn in 2009 and by nearly 19.8% to Dhs3.79bn in 2010, from about Dhs3bn in 2008. (Mac capital Advisors)
DFSA reluctant to raise bank capital requirements
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is reluctant to raise banks' capital holding requirements to prevent another economic collapse, Emirates Business 24/7 has reported. Capital level must be determined before looking into increasing the requirements, DFSA's Chief Executive Paul Koster said. "We cannot even make all agree on what should be in the balance sheet and what should be potentially off the balance sheet. And capital requirements are related on what's on the balance sheet and how you valuate it," Koster said.
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