National Bank of Fujairah is playing to its strengths, in gold and trade finance

National Bank of Fujairah is playing to its strengths, in gold and trade finance

Dubai: The six months to June 2023 have been nothing short of spectacular for the UAE banking sector. Higher interest rates delivered robust profit margins, while the appetite for loans and other services among businesses and retail clients grew just as strongly. The higher cost of debt did not have any impact on numbers, with loan offtake during June offering more evidence of that.

This particular demand boost lifted the fortunes of all banks, with National Bank of Fujairah stepping up with a Dh332.1 million net profit for H1-2023, a marked improvement from the Dh150.5 million a year ago. NBF played to its strengths, those being in the corporate banking and trade finance categories.

Vince Cook, CEO of National Bank of Fujairah, talks about how the entity plans to continue in the same vein. And staying ahead of all the digital transformation that’s coursing through the banking sector.

NBF has extensive bullion operations - have the current gold price levels and extensive institutional investor demand helped in the H1 numbers?

NBF caters to the gold and jewellery sector in the country through its precious metals segment, a specialization within the corporate banking vertical. Whilst the gold price remains relatively high - in response to