Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) reported a rise in first quarter (Q1) net profit for 2019, triggering a jump in the bank’s shares on Thursday.

CBD’s Q1 2019 net profit amounted to 340.05 million United Arab Emirates dirhams ($92.58 million), compared to 279.74 million dirhams in Q1 2018, translating into a 21.56 percent increase.

“The results came in line and in support of our bullish views on the banking sector in the UAE as a whole,” Marie Salem, director of capital markets at FFA Private Bank (Dubai) Limited, told Zawya.

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, had reported on Wednesday a 14.56 percent year-on-year increase in Q1 2019 net profit. (Read more here).

Salem said that CBD showed “positively surprising results” and the bank’s net income increased due to an increase in operational profits, and a reduction in associated costs.

The bank’s operating income stood at 774.07 million dirhams in Q1 2019, compared to 658 million dirhams in Q1 2018, while operating expenses were 205.74 million dirhams in Q1 2019, compared to 213.63 million dirhams in Q1 2018.

The bank’s net interest income and income from Islamic financing amounted to 492.96 million dirhams in Q1 2019, compared to 457.84 million dirhams in Q1 2018, a 7.67 year-on-year increase.

CBD’s shares rose 2.56 percent to 4 dirhams per share on Thursday, and have added 8.11 percent so far this year.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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