Dunia Group, an Abu Dhabi-headquartered finance company, today reported a full year profit of Dh73.1 million ($19.90 million) for 2016.

This included Dunia Finance reporting a net profit of Dh71.3 million and Dunia Services reporting a net profit of Dh1.8 million.
 
The group recorded an operating income of Dh879.2 million in 2016, an increase of 7.3 per cent over the same period in 2015. Underpinning the company’s performance in 2016 was Dunia’s customer-centric strategy aimed at deepening relationships through first class service, bespoke financial solutions, and intelligent use of technology, the company said.
 
Dunia Group announced an aggregate dividend of Dh56 million for 2016, maintaining a six-year track record of dividend distribution. This reflects not only the company’s success, predictability and resilience of its business model, but also the management and board’s confidence in dunia’s future growth prospects, it said.

Dunia is a strategic investment and alliance created by a group of leading players including Mubadala, Fullerton Financial Holdings, Waha Capital and A A Al Moosa Enterprises.
 
During 2016, dunia’s continued focus on enhancing the entire customer experience led to a 21 per cent increase in customers. Total customer assets were prudently maintained in line with dunia’s risk management strategy at the prior year level of Dh1.96 billion. Dunia’s balance sheet remains strong with a growth in cash and deposits of 54 per cent over the prior year to Dh202.5 million, reflecting the company’s prudent liquidity management.
 
Commenting on the results, Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, chairman of dunia, said: “The company delivered another sound performance in 2016 as we continued to focus on operational efficiencies and enhancing the overall dunia experience despite the uncertain global economy and subdued commodity prices. We head into the new financial year with our business in robust shape and a strong portfolio of products and services. Our strength remains our people, and I am truly grateful for their ongoing commitment, dedication and drive.”
 
Rajeev Kakar, managing director and CEO, said: “The macro-economic environment experienced in 2016 led to us taking a number of timely strategic actions to realign business priorities that have helped to ensure continued predictable and profitable returns on a sustained basis. Our ability to confidently navigate the uncertainties of 2016 highlights the resilience of our unique customer-centric business model and the robustness of our operations, demonstrating that dunia can grow and succeed in even the most challenging of times. Despite such conditions, we continued to invest, attracting new customers while also deepening existing customer relationships by leveraging big data analytics which provides a better understanding of our customers’ needs. This enabled us to specifically tailor products to a loyal and growing customer base.” - TradeArabia News Service