ENBD's non-performing retail loans increase by double digits

Emirates NBD's (ENBD) non-performing retail loans (NPLs) have increased by double digits in the past six months. The bank has also seen an increase in fraudulent activities, primarily in documentation, a senior bank executive said.

"For the retail business, NPLs have increased by double digits in the past six months especially from unsecured business such as personal loans and credit cards," Suvo Sarkar, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Retail Banking, Emirates NBD told Emirates Business.

"NPLs have been inching up in the past couple of quarters and we expect that to be the case in the next two quarters, but are expecting it to be better by the end of the year. However, we are very much in control. We have increased collection efforts and have made our lending conservative," he said

Sarkar said the region's largest bank in terms of assets is planning to aggressively penetrate the retail market with a goal of achieving 25 per cent share in the next three years. Currently, about 80 per cent of its loan book is made up of the corporate segment.END