Rakbank’s net profit jumps by 93% in Q1

Ras Al Khaimah / Gulf Time

The National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (Rakbank) announced a consolidated net profit of AED220.1 million for Q1 2022, an increase of 93.1% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Total Income of AED726.9 million, decreased by 8.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. As at March 31, total assets stood at AED 58.6 billion, increasing by 10.1% year-on-year and 4.1% year-to-date.
Rakbank CEO, Raheel Ahmed, commented: “Our diversification strategy is working well. Q1 2022 net profit at AED 220.1 million is 93.1% higher compared to Q1 2021. We have delivered this very significant increase in net profit by improving our return on equity by 460 basis points to 10.5%, improving our returns on assets to 1.6%, whilst maintaining one of the highest impaired loan coverage ratio in the industry at 138%. We saw a reduction in our non-interest income driven by lower trading forex & derivatives & investment incomes.”
However, we expect that this will not be repeated in subsequent quarters. We have a strong balance sheet momentum across all lines of businesses as is evident from the 9.3% year-on-year growth in gross loans and advances. We have seen over a 20% year-on-year increase in digital engagement with customers & have seen double digit growth in both customer spends & customer payments versus Q1 2021. Continuing our journey of innovation, we launched Digital Lending for SMEs & further enhanced our SMEsouk portal – the one stop digital platform for businesses in the UAE.”
Total assets increased year-to-date by AED 2.3 billion which translates into a growth of 4.1%, due to an increase in gross loans and advances which increased by AED 1.6 billion, lending to banks which increased by AED 751 million, offset by a reduction in cash and central bank balances by AED 128 million. Total assets increased by AED 5.4 billion to AED 58.6 billion compared to 31 March 2021 mainly due to an increase of AED 3.1 billion in Gross Loans and Advances, AED 1.3 billion Due from Banks and AED 850 million in Investments.
Provision for credit loss decreased by AED 222.5 million compared to Q1 2021 and by AED 63.2 million compared to Q4 2021. Non-Performing Loans and Advances to Gross Loans and Advances ratio was 3.7% as at 31 March 2022, Net Credit Losses to average Loans and Advances ratio closed at 1.6% compared to 4.5% as at the end of the first quarter of 2021.
On a year-on-year basis, total operating Income declined by AED 74.0 million to AED 726.9 million. The Net Interest Income and Net Income from Shariah-Compliant Islamic Financing increased by 1.6% year-on-year largely due to the increase in assets. However, the Non-Interest Income decreased by AED 82.7 million to AED 186.5 million, mainly due to a year-on-year decrease in FOREX and Derivative Income of AED 40.8 million, AED 29.3 million in Investment Income and AED 13.6 million in Other Operating Income. This was partly offset by an increase of AED 2.1 million in Net Insurance Underwriting Profit. The reduction was largely due to one off trading losses in the proprietary book due to a sudden increase in interest rates in Quarter 1 impacting the bond book and certain derivative positions. This was further exacerbated by devaluation in foreign exchange rates in certain currencies due to macroeconomic and geopolitical reasons.
The bank’s total Capital Ratio as per Basel III, after the application of the prudential filter was 16.5% compared to 17.0% at the end of the previous year. The regulatory eligible Liquid Asset Ratio at the end of the quarter was 11.9%, compared to 11.6% as at 31 December 2021, and Advances to Stable Resources ratio stood comfortably at 87.0% compared to 82.9% at the end of 2021.
“The impact of rising interest environment, Russia & Ukraine conflict & increase in inflation will have to be managed carefully. There is also intense competition for talent globally. However the UAE economy continues to grow strongly & there has been a significant improvement in both business & consumer sentiment. At Rakbank we will continue to rapidly accelerate our focus on delivering personalised & convenient financials solutions for our clients whilst providing brilliant customer experience at all touch points.” said Raheel Ahmed. “We strongly believe that whilst continuing to build secure digital solutions is critical, so is ensuring that our colleagues are always there to support our customers, when needed. We are investing in both to deliver ‘Simply Better’ banking.”