Commercial Bank International (CBI), a UAE based corporate and retail bank, has maintained its annual net profit of Dh111 million ($30.2 million) in 2019 as compared to the previous year.

CBI’s quarterly net profit was up by 22 per cent from Dh31 million in Q3 2019 to Dh38 million in Q4 2019, mainly driven by a 4 per cent growth in net operating income from Dh196 million in Q3 2019 to Dh203 million in Q4 2019.

Annual expenses down 8 per cent from Dh409 million in 2018to Dh376 million in 2019. Capital adequacy increased to 15.4 per cent, up from 14.0 per cent previous year.

Mohammad Sultan Al Qadi, chairman of CBI, said: “2019 was a challenging year for the banking industry, due to the challenges in the global economy and markets. Despite the headwinds, CBI maintained its solid performance and achieved further progress in implementing its transformation program. With our customer-centric strategy, we are optimistic about the growth prospects offered by the development of the UAE economy in 2020 and beyond, for our customers, shareholders and people”.

Ali Sultan Rakkad Al Amri, acting CEO of CBI, added: “We have delivered a steady performance in 2019, driven primarily by wholesale loans and advances, which grew by Dh146 million. Our expenses reduced by 8 per cent compared to the previous year and our operating profit reached Dh403 million, thanks to our continued discipline on robust cost control, automation and streamlining.

“With our strong capital and liquidity, CBI is very well positioned to support the growth of the UAE economy and help our customers realise their ambitions in 2020.” – TradeArabia News Service