Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, has issued Emirates NBD, foreign currency ratings of A+ long-term, A1 short-term and a financial strength rating of A with a support of 1. All ratings carry a Stable outlook.

At the same time CI has withdrawn the ratings previously assigned to Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) following the legal integration of the two banks on November 21 to form ENBD.

The ratings of ENBD reflect the combined risk profile of the merged banks (EBI and NBD) and are underpinned by the bank’s large size and dominant position in the domestic market as well as its majority ownership by the government of Dubai.

Notwithstanding the drop in net profit in the current year on the back of high provision charges, operating profitability remains good and the capital base is strong.

With total assets of over $76 billion, ENBD is currently the largest banking group in the Middle East and North Africa region. In the UAE, it has a 20 per cent share of assets and a 19 per cent share of customer deposits making it an important player in the financial market.

ENBD’s 129 branches at end June 2009 represent a fifth of total bank branches in the country. The government of Dubai, through the Investment Corporation of Dubai, is the single largest shareholder of ENBD with a 55.6 per cent stake.-TradeArabia News Service