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GIH loses court case on NBQ stake
National Bank of Umm Al Quwain in the UAE has said that Kuwait's Global Investment House (GIH) has lost a court case to nullify its deal to buy a $642.5m stake in the bank, after defaulting on payment, Emirates Business has reported. GIH, which defaulted on most of its debt earlier this year, had last year signed a deal to buy a 20% stake in NBQ through convertible bonds.
Mashreqbank Q2 profit drops 38%
UAE-based Mashreqbank has reported a 38% fall in its second-quarter profit on provisions for bad loans, Bloomberg has reported. Net income dropped to Dhs434.9m ($118m) from Dhs706.9m a year earlier. Impairment provisions rose to Dhs319m from Dhs84.6m, the lender said.
United Gulf Bank's profit falls 79%
Bahrain-based United Gulf Bank has reported a 79.2% decline in H1 2009 net profit to $14.9m, compared to $71.5m earned for the same period in 2008. The bank has also posted a net profit of $5.6m in the second quarter of 2009, compared to $40.8m in the same period last year. UGB's income before interest and other expenses for the six months period was $65.9m, compared to $112.9m in June 2008, which includes additional provisions of $14.7m.
Bank of Sharjah's H1 profit rises 32%
The Bank of Sharjah has posted a 32% rise in net profit in the first half of this year to Dhs298m, compared to Dhs195m for the corresponding period in 2008. The lender's Q2 profit rose by 37% to Dhs149m, compared to Dhs109m for the year's first quarter. As of June 30, 2009, the bank's total collective impairment provision had reached the sum of Dhs115m. Earnings per share for the period had increased by 27% to 12.8 fils against 10.9 fils for the corresponding period last year.
BLME launches Sharia'a compliant money market fund
The Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) has launched the first Sharia'a compliant money market fund in Europe, the bank said. The Sharia'a Dollar Income Fund is the first fund launched by BLME and is domiciled in Luxembourg. The fund is currently over $50,000,000 and is managed by Jason Kabel. It is available to institutional and professional investors in the UK, Europe and Middle East.
Bank Muscat sets aside $104m for loan losses
Bank Muscat has set aside 40.2 million rials ($104m) for bad loans in the second quarter, including for its exposure to Saudi Arabia's troubled Saad and Algosaibi groups, the bank said yesterday.
QNB cuts its foreign money transfer fees by 60%
Qatar National Bank has said it has reduced by 60% its foreign money transfer fees carried out via EAZYLife, the bank's suite of eBanking channels. The move aims at encouraging customers to use QNB's online banking services without the need to visit its branches in order to make the most of the offer's preferential prices, the lender said.
Luup opens office in Dubai
Luup International has announced the opening of a regional office in Dubai. Luup is a global provider of mobile payment services, systems and infrastructure, enabling a wide range of payments to be initiated and managed from a mobile phone. The new office will support partners and customers throughout the Middle East and North Africa and will be headed by Morten Hofstad as Head of Business Development, the firm said.
Emirates NBD Q2 profit drops 41%
Emirates NBD has reported that its second-quarter profit fell 41%, as net income dropped to Dhs852.1m ($232m), or Dhs0.15 a share, from Dhs1.45bn or Dhs0.26. It blamed the loss on provisions for impaired loans, which jumped to Dhs1.15bn from Dhs248.7m.
Rakbank H1 profit up 10%
The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah has reported a net profit of Dhs343.82m for the six month period ended June 30, up 10.33% compared to the same period last year. Second quarter profit grew by 14.38% over the first quarter of 2009, the lender said. Rakbank's net interest income during the first half of the year grew by 32%, compared to the same period last year, to reach Dhs530.76m.
CBK posts H1 profit
The Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) had posted net profit of KD800,000 during H1 2009, after transferring KD66.1m to the additional allotment account, Kuna has reported. Up to the end of June, the bank's assets came to some KD3.7bn, while the rights of stockholders came to KD451.5m.
Sharjah Islamic posts H1 figures
Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has recorded a net profit of Dhs151.7m in the first half of 2009, compared to Dhs191.8m in the same period last year. Net profit before distribution to depositors stood at Dhs309.3m compared to Dhs309.7m for the same period last year, while net customer receivables reached Dhs10bn compared to Dhs10.2mn on Dec 2008. SIB has said. SIB's total assets have grown since December 2008 to Dhs16.2bn.
Dubai Islamic posts Dhs450m profits in Q2
Dubai Islamic Bank has announced its 2009 second quarter net profit reached Dhs450m, 22% higher than the previous quarter of this year, but 40% down on last year. The bank made impairment provisions of Dhs135m, making total impairment provision for first half of 2009 now Dhs239m.
ADCB profits fall 44% in H1
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's (ADCB) first-half profits have fallen 44%, setting aside Dhs892m in provisions against losses on bad loans, The National has reported. ADCB has said it had set aside Dhs892m in provisions partly to cushion itself against losses on loans to Saad and Al Gosaibi, the Saudi conglomerates that have defaulted on their debts.
Saudi banks raise loan loss provisions
According to data released on the Saudi stock exchange, Banque Saudi Fransi has sharply increased provisions for loan losses during the second quarter, Reuters has reported. Fransi's audited financial statements show it had booked a little below SR10m in provisions for loan losses in the same period of 2008, SR46.1m in Q1 2009, and SR287.5m in Q4 2008, while Samba Financial Group, the country's second-largest lender by market value, had booked SR97.3m in provisions for loan losses during the second quarter, against SR37.8m in 2008, SR203m in the first quarter and SR141.6m in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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