Commercial Bank International (CBI), one of the UAE’s leading banks, has announced a 322 per cent increase in profits to Dh137 million ($37.30 million) for the second quarter of 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.

The bank saw total assets increase to Dh10.109 billion from Dh6.087 billion in June 2006, representing a growth of 66.08 per cent, whereas its consumer deposits grew to Dh7.626 billion, leading to 52.92 per cent growth over last June’s Dh4.987 billion.

Loans and advances saw a huge increase to Dh6.687 billion from Dh3,573 million, representing a growth of 87.14 per cent.

CBI’s paid up was increased by 127 per cent to Dh1.089 billion from Dh479 million as on June 30, 2006. The earning per share based on share capital for the second quarter of year 2007 was Dh0.13.

Hamad Abdulla Al Mutawa, chairman of CBI, said: “This is another strong performance for CBI, and reflects the successful implementation of our strategy. Our broader geographic spread and product portfolio have increased our resilience to individual market events. We are confident in our ability to continue to deliver good returns to our shareholders.”

 “Setting extremely ambitious goals, CBI is witnessing growth on all fronts in terms of assets and liabilities. With the corporate portfolio growing by 48 per cent from Dh3.5 billion to Dh5.15 billion, and retail portfolio by 550 per cent from Dh330 million to Dh1.7 billion, we have revamped and restructured our Corporate Banking, and aggressively entering the Retail Banking space in the UAE,” said Khamis Buharoon, CEO.

“We are also focusing on diversifying our delivery channels throughout the coming six months and seven new branches will be opened all over the country starting with Fujairah branch which will start operations within the next two weeks, followed by Um Al Quwain, Sharjah, Ajman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. This will take the total number of branches to 15,” he said.

The bank also plans to set up a new call centre with 51 agents using the latest Avaya technology. The bank’s ATM network will also reach 50 soon, Buharoon said. – TradeArabia News Service