Commercial Bank of Dubai’s Head Office. The lender's half year profit surged as expenses and impairments declined. Courtesy Commercial Bank of Dubai
Commercial Bank of Dubai’s Head Office. The lender's half year profit surged as expenses and impairments declined. Courtesy Commercial Bank of Dubai

Dubai CBD's first-half net income climbs 68% on lower expenses



Commercial Bank of Dubai reported a 68 cent rise in its first-half net income as operating expenses and impairment charges for bad loans declined while net interest and fee income climbed.

Net profit for the six-month period to the end of June, climbed to Dh561 million, the lender said in a statement on Wednesday to Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. Income for the second quarter, surged 63 per cent to Dh281.3m, the lender said in a separate bourse filing.

“CBD’s first half results were strong, underpinned by a higher operating and net profit, with continued expense discipline and increased provision coverage. We remain committed to growing the bank by further developing our digital offering,” Bernd van Linder, CBD's chief executive, said. “With a strong balance sheet, healthy liquidity profile and capital adequacy, CBD is well-placed to support our customers’ requirements.”

The first half profit was boosted by a 5.6 per cent decline in operating expenses to Dh424m as cost to income ratio improved to 31.9 per cent. Net impairment allowances were down at Dh343m, a 35.5 per cent drop when compared to the first half of 2017, CBD said.

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Total operating income increased by 1.1 per cent to Dh1.33 billion, on the back of a 6 per cent increase in net interest income to Dh938m, however, the bank’s non-interest income dropped by 9 per cent to Dh390m. Fees and commission income rose 2.8 per cent, while income from foreign exchange operations surged 27.6 per cent, it added.

GCC banks are forecast to see rising profits in 2018 due to lower costs and a stabilising macroeconomic environment.

"[Regional banks will see] slight recovery in loan growth, driven by the corporate segment, and an improvement in spreads quarter-on-quarter," Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes said in its Mena banks second-quarter preview paper published earlier this week. "Dubai banks should continue to post stronger loan growth, [and] we expect an improvement from the Abu Dhabi banks."

CBD’s total assets came in at Dh68.9bn at the end of the second half, a 1.5 per cent year-on-year increase. Loans and advances reached 47.2bn for the period from Dh46.3bn from the first six months of 2017, the bank said.

Customer deposits climbed to Dh48.1bn for the six-month period from Dh46.9bn reported at the end of June in 2017. Current and savings accounts constitute 43.2 per cent of the total deposit base, while the financing-to-deposits ratio stood at 98.1 per cent, it said.

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Director: Amar Kaushik
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Rating: 3.5

Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani  (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)              

2014 Lia Saad  (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
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Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734

Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae

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ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

if you go

The flights

Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com

Seeing the games

Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com

 

Staying there

Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com

 

What is Genes in Space?

Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.

It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration. 

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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'

Director:Michael Lehmann

Stars:Kristen Bell

Rating: 1/5

FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate? 
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties? 
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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