Newly merged NBAD posts 12% rise in Q1 net profit

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) posted a pro-forma net profit of AED 2.93 billion for the first quarter of 2017, up 12.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) on higher revenue.

NBAD recently completed its merger with First Gulf Bank and the financial results were for the combined bank as of March 31, 2017, the lender said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

The merged entity is in the process of changing its name to First Abu Dhabi Bank.

The group said the increase in Q1 profit was driven by growth in revenues, which rose 8.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to AED 5.2 billion.

Headline operating costs for the quarter were AED 1.5 billion, up 5.7 percent YoY but down 2.5 percent sequentially.

Integration expenses of approximately AED 100 million were incurred during the period, primarily due to professional fees. Excluding integration costs, operating expenses decreased 1.5 percent YoY, the bank said.

“Our liquidity profile has strengthened and our capital position is robust with CET1 ratio of 14.7 percent, which places us in a positive standing to comply with the Basel-III regulatory framework,” Abdulhamid Saeed, group CEO of the combined bank, said in the statement.