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Emirates NBD’s profits rebounded by 34 percent to 9.3 billion dirhams ($2.5 billion) in 2021 from 6.96 billion dirhams in 2020.
The bank said it has seen a record demand for retail financing and announced that it is proposing a 25 percent increase in cash dividend to 50 fils per share.
It also noted it has a headroom to invest in advanced analytics to leverage further from its digital transformation, with the full-year revenue rising by three percent to 23.8 billion dirhams. The bank’s international operations have contributed 38 percent of the income in 2021.
The bank’s income for the fourth quarter of 2021 rose 32 percent year-on-year and 13 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Expenses were also up two percent year-on-year to 8 billion dirhams.
“Emirates NBD continued financing the real economy and was rewarded as economic growth rebounded, helped by government economic stimulus packages and the successful handling of the pandemic by the country’s wise and visionary leadership,” said Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Shayne Nelson, Emirates NBD Group CEO, said the bank’s funding mix has improved as it added 38 billion dirhams in current and savings accounts during the course of the year.
“We continue to maintain a strict control on expenses and have headroom to invest in advanced analytics, enabling us to leverage further from our digital transformation,” he said.
For its 2022 outlook, Emirates NBD said the UAE enjoyed a strong finish to 2021, with the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, which was delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and rebounding tourism.
“Emirates NBD Research estimates that the non-oil economy grew by 3.5 percent in 2021, and forecasts faster growth of 4.0 percent in 2022. Increased oil production will contribute to headline GDP growth of 4.6 percent for 2022,” the bank said.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Cleofe Maceda )
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