National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) has approved a 15 per cent cash dividend for its shareholders at the bank's annual ordinary general meeting (AGM) on Monday in Fujairah. 

The dividend shall be distributed to the shareholders recorded in the share register as on April 3, said a bank official.

“NBF continues its journey to scale new heights by registering sustained growth as demonstrated over the last three years. Last year was the fourth consecutive time when the bank saw a net income growth in excess of 35 per cent,” said Sheikh Saleh Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, NBF chairman.

NBF will continue to strengthen its brand into ‘Best in class full service financial institution’ by pursuing its two-pronged ‘build and diversify’ strategy and by distinctly focusing on taking its service quality and customer experience to the next level”.

The meeting also approved the chairman’s report on the bank’s activities and its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007. The NBF board of directors was also elected for another three-year term.

The bank experienced another strong year where profits jumped to Dh323.8 million ($88.1 million), up 36.3 per cent from profit of Dh237.6 million in 2006, Al Sharqi noted.

'Net interest rose by 32.9 per cent fueled by sustainable growth in volumes. Fee income saw a growth of 23.2 per cent on the back of strong performance from wealth management and financial institution group coupled with diversification into syndication businesses,' he added.

According to him, the total assets and liabilities grew by 42.5 per cent and 48.8 per cent respectively to Dh12.3 billion and Dh10.5 billion over December 31, 2006.

The earnings per share increased to Dh0.29 for the year from Dh0.22 in 2006. Return on average equity rose from 16 per cent in 2006 to 19.2 per cent while return on average assets stood marginally lower at 3.1 per cent for the year as opposed to 3.2 per cent in 2006.

The total shareholders’ equity as of December 31, 2007 stood at Dh1.8 billion, while the bank’s capital adequacy ratio at year-end hit 14.69 per cent against the Central Bank minimum of 10 per cent and compared to corresponding year end ratio of 18.94 per cent which reflects the bank’s growth and expansion.-TradeArabia News Service