Abdul Basit
Mashreq on Thursday declared a net profit of Dh450 million for the first quarter of 2020.
The bank reported an operating income at Dh1.5 billion, slight decline compared to last year. Its total assets grew by 2.0% to Dh162.6 billion while Loans and Advances increased by 2.8% to reach Dh78.3 billion as compared to December 2019.
While the bank’s customer deposits reduced by 2.7% to AED 88.5 billion, its loan-to-deposit ratio remained strong at 88.5%.
Total provisions for loans and advances reached Dh4.3 billion, constituting 101.4% coverage for non-performing loans.
Ahmed Abdelaal, Group CEO at Mashreq Bank said: “These are difficult times for the whole world and despite a tough operating environment, Mashreq continued its positive growth trajectory in 1Q 2020.
“We achieved a respectable AED 450 million in net profit for the first quarter of 2020 despite strong headwinds like steep decline in interest rates and impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Our revenue has also remained stable with our loans and advances growing by almost 3% in the first quarter of 2020. It is also worth mentioning that our best-in-class non-interest income to operating income ratio increased to 48.7%, compared to 40.4% over the same period last year. Furthermore, we also continued to show robust liquidity with a liquid assets ratio of 31.8%.
Given the unprecedented situation we are facing now, we invoked several management actions during the quarter, aimed at ensuring the safety and security of all our stakeholders as well as supporting their financial well-being. We constituted a task force with representation from all departments to monitor the COVID-19 situation and take proactive decisions to resolve any concerns.
As a result, today, 97% of our workforce operate from home and continue to provide uninterrupted service to our customers, which is testament to our robust business continuity planning measures. In March, we also rolled out a substantial banking benefits package for all customers that have been impacted by the outbreak. The package, which extends to new and current Mashreq customers, will provide relief to employees and businesses, particularly in stressed sectors, through assistance such as reduced costs, loan deferrals, reduced interest rates and processing fees.
Mashreq has taken every measure to ensure that during these testing times we do not compromise on our service levels. We continue to monitor local developments that affect our offices around the world, and remain in communication with our customers, to ensure that they have the access they need to all channels including our digital and online channels.
Mr. Abdelaal concluded, “In a time where people are increasingly adopting digital behaviors and embracing convenience, I believe that Mashreq is uniquely positioned in the market to realize the benefits from our early investments in innovation and digitization. I am confident that we will get through this testing phase, and want to reiterate our commitment to creating long term value for our clients and shareholders.” – abdulbasit@theuaenews.com
