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UAE banks set the pace

Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009

Gulf News

Dubai: The combined assets of 420 Arab banks last year reached $1.9 trillion (Dh6.9 trillion), with the top 100 lenders accounting for $1.5 trillion, according to a top official of the Union of Arab Banks ( UAB ).

Total shareholders' equity for all the banks rose $164 billion while net profits stood at $24 billion in 2008. The aggregate deposits reached $1 trillion and the total loan disbursement exceeded $831 billion, Adnan Ahmad Yousuf, chairman of UAB , who is also the president and chief executive of Al Baraka Banking Group, told Gulf News yesterday.

The impact of the global financial crisis has not been as severe in the region as in the United States, Yousuf said. "Arab banks have adopted more prudent policies and strategies to overcome the financial downturn," he said.

The UAE has the highest number of banks among the top 100 Arab lenders, with consolidated assets of $317 billion and deposits of $199 billion.

The UAE banks have disbursed $215 billion in loans, recording profits of $5.5 billion last year, UAB statistics show.

Saudi Arabia has only 11 banks among the top 100 Arab banks but the combined assets of these institutions have been put at about $337 billion.

The top Saudi banks surpassed the UAE banks in terms of assets, deposits, equity, and profits. However, they had disbursed less in loans than UAE lenders, which may reflect a conservative lending culture among the Saudi banks.

Among the top 100 Arab banks are one from Algeria (with assets of $10 billion), 10 from Bahrain (with assets of $121 billion), 12 from Egypt (with assets of $130 billion), two from Jordan (with assets of $53 billion), nine from Kuwait (with assets of $158 billion), nine from Lebanon (with assets of $88 billion), four from Libya (with assets of $41 billion), seven from Morocco (with assets of $94 billion), three from Oman (with assets of $24 billion), nine from Qatar (with assets of $101 billion), two from Syria (with assets of $22 billion), and four from Tunisia (with assets of $16 billion).

Emirates NBD has emerged as the top lender in the Arab world with assets worth $77 billion and loans of $51.2 billion.

National Commercial Bank ranks second in the Arab world and top amongst Saudi lenders with assets to the tune of $45.8 billion by the end of 2008.

The smallest bank in terms of assets is Banque de L'habitat de Tunisie with $3.2 billion.

The bank with the lowest volume of deposits is Investcorp Bank (Bahrain) with $376 million. The bank with the lowest volume of loans is Awal Bank (Bahrain), with just $36 million. The bank with the lowest equity is the National Commercial Bank (Libya) with $127 million.

The worst performing bank in the Arab world is the Arab Banking Corporation (Bahrain) with losses of $844 million.

In terms of total profits, Al Rajhi Bank has recorded the highest profits, at $1.74 billion, despite not being the largest bank in terms of assets.

The highest Return on Asset was recorded at the Arcapita (Bahrain) (7.05 per cent), and the lowest at the Arab Banking Corporation (-2.96 per cent).

The highest (Return on Equity) ROE was recorded at the Real Estate Bank (Syria) (76.74 per cent), and the lowest at the Arab Banking Corp (-40.42 per cent).

By Zaher Bitar, Staff Reporter

© Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.