Emirates NBD Quarterly Net Drops 12%, Tops Estimates (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

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Emirates NBD PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank by assets, reported a 12 percent decline in first-quarter profit, beating estimates.

Net income dropped to 1.11 billion dirhams ($302 million) from 1.26 billion dirhams a year earlier, the state-controlled bank said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai today. That beat the median estimate of 711 million dirhams of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“We have maintained revenues at similar levels to the same period in 2009 and have continued to reduce operating expenses from ongoing rationalization,” Chief Executive Officer Rick Pudner said in the statement. “Credit metrics remain in line with our expectations and our focus on balance sheet optimization has yielded a significant improvement in our funding profile while maintaining strong capitalization levels.”