CORRECT: National Bank Of Abu Dhabi 4Q Up 71%; Monitoring Egypt Ops

Wednesday, Feb 02, 2011

("National Bank Of Abu Dhabi 4Q Up 71%; Monitoring Egypt Ops," first published at 1126 GMT Tuesday and again at 0356 GMT Wednesday, misstated NBAD's Egypt group asset exposure in the fourth paragraph. The correct version follows:)

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD.AD), the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates by market value, Tuesday reported a 71% rise in fourth-quarter net profit and said it is monitoring the political situation in Egypt on a daily basis.

NBAD said fourth-quarter net profit jumped to 732 million U.A.E. dirhams ($199.2 million), from AED429 million in the year-ago period.

EFG Hermes had forecast a fourth-quarter net profit figure of AED531 million, while Shuaa Capital predicted AED667 million in net profit for the three month period.

NBAD has 28 branches in Egypt, where demonstrations against the regime of president Hosni Mubarak have left the stockmarket and local banks closed since the beginning of this week. The bank's Egyptian operations account for 3.5% of the group's assets and 4% of its net income. NBAD has cross-border exposure of around $400 million to Egyptian entities, it said in an emailed statement.

Analysts at brokerage firm AlembicHC said the upheaval in Egypt could have strong implications on the country's bank fundamentals due to a deterioration of the business climate. The implications for the international banks operating there would be more limited, it said.

NBAD said full-year net profit rose 22% to AED3.7 billion from AED3 billion in 2009. The bank said loans and customer deposits grew 3.5% and 6.5% respectively.

"Economic activity in the United Arab Emirates rebounded modestly reflecting global trends," said the bank's chairman Nasser Alsowaidi.

After two years of coping with the global financial crisis, banks in the United Arab Emirates are poised to post modest growth again in 2011. Most banks were forced to take provisions against bad loans and to cover their exposure against some large entities, such as Dubai World, a state conglomerate which is in the final phase of restructuring $25 billion in debt.

NBAD said it took AED1.2 billion in net impairment charges for the year.

One of its main competitors, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB.AD), last week swung to a fourth-quarter net profit again after posting a loss in the year-ago quarter.

NBAD shares didn't trade Tuesday ahead of their results. They closed at AED11.50 Monday.

-By Nicolas Parasie, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1681; nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-02-11 0710GMT