UAE’s top banks beat estimates as economy boosts earnings

UAE’s top banks beat estimates as economy boosts earnings

Two of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest banks posted a first-quarter profit that beat estimates as rising interest rates and the country’s resilient economy helped to boost business.

Profit at First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC’s was 3.93 billion dirhams ($1.07 billion), slightly higher than the 3.21 billion dirhams analysts had expected.

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The number was down from a year earlier because that period included a one-time gain from the sale of a stake in its payments business.

Excluding that, profit jumped 70 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement Thursday.

Net interest income jumped 41 percent and the lender said that all of its business segments grew over the period.

It also attracted 80 billion dirhams of deposits during the quarter, but impairments jumped 74 percent to 798 million dirhams.

FAB, as the bank is known, earlier this year said it had explored a bid for Standard Chartered Plc but that it was no longer looking an offer. In the statement, Chief Executive Officer Hana Al Rostamani said the lender is looking to “shape the future of banking in the UAE and the broader region.”

Shortly afterwards, Dubai’s Emirates NBD PJSC said its first-quarter