Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the UAE’s third-largest lender, delivered a 'resilient' performance amid testing times and its long-term growth fundamentals remain solid, executives said, as the bank reported a 4 per cent drop in the fourth quarter net income.
Profit for the three months to the end of December 31, declined to Dh1.01 billion ($275.2 million), the bank said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.
The results was inline with Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes' estimates as "higher revenue and lower opex [operating expenses] compensated for higher-than-expected provisioning".
Quarterly net income fell primarily on account of higher impairment charges, climbing 3 per cent to Dh938m. Operating income for the period dropped 7 per cent to Dh3.06bn.
"At a time when stable and powerful institutions are needed to support our businesses through unpredictable challenges, I am pleased to report that ADCB remained resilient during a challenging year," Ala'a Eraiqat, the lender's group chief executive, said.
“In testing times, ADCB has drawn on its strengths – a robust balance sheet, disciplined governance and a high-performance culture – to navigate the complex issues raised by the global pandemic, softening global economic activity and low oil prices,” Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the ADCB board, said.
The lender, which has embarked on a five-year strategy, has a commitment to governance that has helped it through successive market cycles, Mr Al Mubarak added.
“As the UAE takes prudent measures to establish a solid platform for a broad recovery, ADCB is in a strong position to play a key role in delivering the country’s economic ambitions in the coming years.”
Lenders globally are facing headwinds as operating conditions deteriorate and provisions for bad loans rise amid an increase in defaults. Profit margins are under pressure as interest rates remain low amid the pandemic-induced economic slowdown.
The lender on Sunday also reported full year profit of 3.81bn, down 27 per cent from Dh5.24bn in 2019. Impairment charges for NMC Health Group, financial services firm Finablr and its associated companies, as part of the bank’s “prudent approach to provisioning”, weighed down its bottom line.
Impairment allowances climbed to Dh3.99bn at the end of last year, rising from Dh2.66bn reported for 2019. Full-year operating profit before impairment allowances held steady at Dh7.95bn despite macroeconomic challenges.
The lender, which completed its three-way merger with Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank last April, said total integration costs incurred – excluding capital expenditure – reached Dh545m, “well below the budgeted Dh980m”. It recorded integration-related expenses of Dh153m in 2020, after reversing Dh74m of charges in the fourth quarter of last year.
The lender said it also adjusted its operating model to account for “changing customer demand and behaviour”, with strong penetration of digital banking services. It reduced its branch network to pre-merger levels of 54 locations in the UAE, from 73 branches in the second quarter of 2020, and from a peak of 127 when it merged with UNB in May 2019.
“We also continued to capture significant merger efficiencies, upgrading our final run-rate synergy target to Dh1bn from the original aim of Dh615m, while introducing additional cost optimisation measures,” Mr Eraiqat said.
“As a result, operating expenses excluding integration costs decreased by 11 per cent in 2020 and the cost-to-income ratio improved by 190 basis points to 35.1 per cent.”
On Monday, the lender appointed Sheikh Zayed Bin Suroor Al Nahyan to the board, replacing Abdulla Al Mutawa, who resigned after 24 years as an ADCB board member.
During his tenure at the bank, Mr Al Mutawa has "contributed significantly to the development of ADCB into a top-tier banking group", Mr Al Mubarak said.
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Mobile phone packages comparison
The%20specs
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Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5), 9pm
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1), 11.45pm
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
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'Jurassic%20World%20Dominion'
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Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
- Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm
Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
- Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Company%20Profile
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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F1 The Movie
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Rating: 4/5
