UAE's RAKBank profit jumps 31 pct in Q2

UAE’s RAKBank profit jumps 31 pct in Q2

Year on year six month profit up 36 pct.

July 21, 2010 11:18 by Reuters

UAE lender National Bank of Ras al-Khaimah reported a second quarter net profit increase of 31 percent on Tuesday as interest and fee income rose, outweighing a near doubling of bad loan charges.

Abu Dhabi-listed RAKBank made a net profit of 240.2 million dirhams ($65.4 million) in the three months to June 30, up from 183.4 million dirhams in the year earlier period.

“The bank’s second quarter result reflects the growth in the bank’s customer base across a wide range of personal and small business segments…”, said general manager Graham Honeybill in the statement.

Net provisions for bad loans continued to weigh on the bank, jumping 92.8 percent in the first half of the year to 148.8 million dirhams, from 77.2 million dirhams in the same period in 2009.

The lender, controlled by the ruler of emirate Ras al-Khaimah, reported a six month net profit of 468.3 million dirhams, up 36.2 percent from the same period in 2009. First half net income interest grew by 42 percent to 767 million dirhams, while fees, commission and other income increased 23.6 percent.

In May, the board of directors approved an increase in limit of the bank’s bond issuance programme to $1 billion from $500 million.

(Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Andrew Callus)