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DUBAI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Mashreq
MASB.DU
continued its earnings slump on Sunday as Dubai's third-biggest lender by assets posted a 24.8 percent fall in third-quarter net profit, weighed by putting aside more cash to cover for bad loans.
The lender made a net profit of 414.95 million dirhams ($112.98 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, it said in a statement, a decrease on the 551.44 million dirhams recorded for the corresponding period of 2015.
Mashreq, which had reported falling profits in the preceding four quarters, suffered in the latest quarter as allowances for impairments jumped by 82 percent over the period to reach 470 million dirhams.
Banks in the United Arab Emirates are facing a more difficult operating environment as the more-than-two-year collapse in oil prices feeds through into higher levels of soured loans and compressed net interest margins.
Net interest income from traditional banking operations rose 0.9 percent on the same three months of last year to 875 million dirhams, while net fee and commission income sank to 399 million dirhams, down 2.3 percent year on year, the statement said.
For the first nine months of the year, the bank posted a net profit of 1.49 billion dirhams, lower than the 1.85 billion dirhams it reported a year ago, according to the statement.
Loans and advances at the end of September were 62.30 billion dirhams, up 6.7 percent on the same point of 2015, while deposits over the same period grew 3 percent to 75.28 billion dirhams.
($1 = 3.6729 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by David French) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The lender made a net profit of 414.95 million dirhams ($112.98 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, it said in a statement, a decrease on the 551.44 million dirhams recorded for the corresponding period of 2015.
Mashreq, which had reported falling profits in the preceding four quarters, suffered in the latest quarter as allowances for impairments jumped by 82 percent over the period to reach 470 million dirhams.
Banks in the United Arab Emirates are facing a more difficult operating environment as the more-than-two-year collapse in oil prices feeds through into higher levels of soured loans and compressed net interest margins.
Net interest income from traditional banking operations rose 0.9 percent on the same three months of last year to 875 million dirhams, while net fee and commission income sank to 399 million dirhams, down 2.3 percent year on year, the statement said.
For the first nine months of the year, the bank posted a net profit of 1.49 billion dirhams, lower than the 1.85 billion dirhams it reported a year ago, according to the statement.
Loans and advances at the end of September were 62.30 billion dirhams, up 6.7 percent on the same point of 2015, while deposits over the same period grew 3 percent to 75.28 billion dirhams.
($1 = 3.6729 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by David French) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
