Wednesday, 24 July 2024

#AbuDhabi Islamic Bank posts 29% higher Q2 net profit, beats analysts

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank posts 29% higher Q2 net profit, beats analysts

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the emirate, posted a Q2 2024 post-tax net profit of 1.58 billion dirhams ($430.2 million), up 29% year-on-year (YoY)

The net profit exceeded analysts’ mean estimate of AED 1.32 billion, according to LSEG data.

Revenue for the quarter rose 27% YoY to AED 2.8 billion, while total operating income was up 27% to AED 2.83 billion, a statement on ADX said.

Meanwhile, provision for impairment rose 31% YoY to AED 293 million.

For H1 2024, the lender made a net profit post-tax of AED 3.03 billion, up 30% YoY.

“Our first-half 2024 results reflect sustained growth across all business lines, driven by robust financing activity, a diversified funding base, and a broadening revenue mix,” acting CEO Mohamed Abdelbary said.

Mideast Stocks: Stock markets in Gulf end mixed, oil near six-week low

Mideast Stocks: Stock markets in Gulf end mixed, oil near six-week low


Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Wednesday as corporate earnings failed to cheer investors amid a retreat in crude prices.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - traded around their lowest level in six weeks, as the northern hemisphere gets deeper into summer with limited signs of the expected fuel consumption surge the period usually sees.

Prices also suffered due to continued concern that the economic slowdown in China, the world's biggest crude importer, would weaken global oil demand.

Dubai's main share index gained 0.3%, led by an 11.8% surge in Dubai's Parkin, which oversees public parking operations in the Emirates, ahead of its earnings announcement on Friday. Among other gainers, Mashreqbank, which is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, advanced 5.5%.

In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.3%, with the country's biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank rising 0.3% ahead of its earnings announcement on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank closed 0.7% higher. Post trading hours, the lender reported quarterly net profit of 1.58 billion dirhams ($430 million), a 29% increase year-on-year. 

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index ended flat. Oil giant Saudi Aramco dropped 0.4%, while Saudi Telecom Company gained 0.6% after reporting quarterly net profit of 3.03 billion riyals ($808 million), up from 3.01 billion riyals a year earlier.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index fell 0.4%, hit by a 2.6% decline in E-Finance For Digital and Financial Investments. Egyptian economic growth will be slightly slower this year than thought in April following a $8 billion agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund in March, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

#SaudiArabia’s Wealth Fund (PIF) Taps Insider to Run Investment Strategy - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia’s Wealth Fund (PIF) Taps Insider to Run Investment Strategy - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund tapped an insider who oversaw its financing activities to run its investment strategy and economic insights division as it hunts for cash to finance the kingdom’s ambitious economic transformation.

Fahad Al Saif will start in his new role immediately, according to a statement from the $925 billion Public Investment Fund on Tuesday. He will continue to lead the PIF’s global capital finance unit, overseeing government asset transfers and fundraising.

Prior to joining the wealth fund in 2020, Al Saif was chief executive officer of the Saudi National Debt Management Center and adviser to the finance minister. He also helped establish the kingdom’s sovereign borrowing program in 2016.

As the main entity tasked with driving Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s plan to diversify the Saudi economy, the PIF has been making aggressive bets at home and abroad on new industries and technologies.

The scale of those ambitions has put pressure on both it and the kingdom and the fund has turned to debt markets to help boost firepower. Total borrowing by the PIF has risen to $125 billion compared to $85 billion a year earlier, according to its latest financial statements.

Major Gulf markets mixed; #Saudi extends losses | Reuters

Major Gulf markets mixed; Saudi extends losses | Reuters

Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Wednesday as corporate earnings failed to cheer investors, while the Saudi index was on course to fall for a third consecutive session.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab fell 0.2%, with Saudi National Bank (1180.SE), opens new tab, the country's top lender, losing 0.5%.

The kingdom's economic growth will likely be one of the slowest among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries this year, according to a Reuters poll of economists who lowered growth forecasts from three months ago due to extended oil output cuts.

Economists said lower oil revenues were likely to constrain investments in non-oil sectors, affecting the overall expansion of the Saudi economy in 2024.

On the other hand, Saudi Telecom Company (7010.SE), opens new tab gained 0.8%, after reporting quarterly net profit of 3.03 billion riyals ($807.76 million), up from 3.01 billion riyals a year earlier.

The telco also proposed a cash dividend of 0.40 riyal per share for the second quarter.

Al Jouf Cement (3091.SE), opens new tab rose 2.2%, as the firm signed a 104.2 million riyals contract to sell cement to Webuild S.p.A for Neom projects.

The cement manufacturer also rescheduled two bank facilities worth 528.5 million riyals from two different lenders.

Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), opens new tab edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 5.5% jump in MashreqBank (MASB.DU), opens new tab.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab added 0.3%, with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB.AD), opens new tab gaining 0.5% ahead of its earnings announcement.

The United Arab Emirates' biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD), opens new tab - which is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings - eased 0.3%.

The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab lost 0.1%, hit by a 0.3% fall in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), opens new tab.

Separately, Qatar Airways has ordered 20 more Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab 777-9 planes, expanding its order book for the U.S. planemaker's 777X family of jets to almost 100, the companies said at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday.