Dubai Islamic Bank's H1 net profit up 25% to Dh739m

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dubai Islamic Bank Group (DIB) on Thursday announced that the group's net profit for the six months ending June 30, 2013, was Dh739 million, up from Dh592 million when compared to the same period of 2012, an increase of 25 per cent. In the second quarter of 2013, net profit was Dh437 million, an increase of 31 per cent compared to Dh334 million for the same period of 2012. Net revenue of the group for the first half of 2013 increased to Dh2.1 billion from Dh1.9 billion in the same period of 2012, an increase of 10 per cent. As at June 30, 2013, the bank's total assets stood at Dh111.1 billion, compared to Dh98.7 billion as at December 31, 2012, an increase of 13 per cent. "The bank's business model has innovation, efficiency and prudence at its core and this is clearly evident in the consistent performance over the last few years," said Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of His Highness the Ruler's Court of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank. "Due to our strong liquidity and robust balance sheet, DIB is superbly placed to meet the banking needs of individuals, businesses and government entities across the UAE." The bank's liquidity remained high as customer deposits grew to Dh82.4 billion, an increase of 23 per cent from December 31, 2012. Current and savings account deposits also witnessed strong growth, reaching Dh33.7 billion at June 30, 2013, an increase of 16 per cent compared to the figure reported on December 31, 2012. Through the period under review, DIB maintained a robust capital adequacy ratio of 18.1 per cent, compared to the figure of 17.4 per cent reported at December 31, 2012. The bank's Tier 1 capital ratio improved to 18.1 per cent from 13.9 per cent on December 31, 2012 due to the capital market hybrid Tier 1 Sukuk issue which was executed in the first quarter of 2013 and was highly oversubscribed. Gross investing and financing assets increased by 1.4 per cent to Dh59.6 billion, as the asset quality continues to improve. The first half of 2013 also witnessed DIB's continued conservative provisioning with Dh545 million set aside for impairments bringing further improvement in the group's overall coverage ratio. Dr Adnan Chilwan, CEO of DIB, added: "With a consistent positive trend in revenue and net profits over the last few quarters, growth is our clear strategic theme going forward." "The strength of DIB's franchise and the bank's highly competitive positioning in the financial sector has been recognised by key stakeholders in the market. Most recently, this was evidenced by Moody's reaffirmation of DIB's ratings as well as the positive coverage by market analysts," he said.