Dubai's Mashreqbank Second-Quarter Profit Drops 54% as Impairments Rise - Bloomberg

Mashreqbank PSC, the United Arab Emirates lender owned by the Al Ghurair family, reported a 54 percent decline in second-quarter profit after setting aside money to cover for bad loans.

Net income fell to 202.2 million dirhams ($55 million), according to Bloomberg calculations based on half-yearly data provided by the bank today. First-half profit was 453 million dirhams, while total operating income dropped 6 percent to 2.3 billion dirhams, according to an e-mailed statement today.

“We see signs of recovery and are optimistic of early economic turnaround,” Chief Executive Officer Abdul Aziz al- Ghurair said in the statement. Mashreqbank set aside 892 million dirhams for impaired loans and financial assets at the end of the second quarter, it said.