The Banking Executive Magazine - July Issue 2021

Mashreq • Capital adequacy ratio and Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 14.0% and 12.8% respectively • Strong Growth in the Loan Portfo- lio • Total assets increased by 9.0% YTD to AED 172.8 billion and Loans and Advances increased by 8.0% YTD to AED 77.3 billion • Loan-to-Deposit ratio remained stable at 81.0% at the end of June 2021 STABILIZING CREDIT ENVIRONMENT • Non-Performing Loans to Gross Loans ratio was at 4.7% as of end of June 2021, down from 4.9% at the end of last quarter • Total provision for loans and ad- vances reached AED 5.3 billion and coverage ratio stood at 117.0% as on 30th June 2021 (up from 104.3% in March 2021) H.E ABDULAZIZ AL GHURAIR, CHAIRMAN OF MASHREQ BANK, SAID: “Recording a net profit of AED 85 million during the first half of 2021, i believe we are fortunate to have been steered through the pandemic and its far-reaching impacts by a na- tional leadership that has taken proactive measures to protect busi- ness interests, jobs and economic stability. As regional and global markets ad- just to the dynamics of a partially vaccinated world population and a fast-evolving virus, the near to mid- term-outlook remains uncertain. The extension of TESS to June 2022 re- flects this reality. However, we re- main cautiously optimistic that with the continued support of the UAE na- tional government, a continued eco- nomic recovery and Mashreq’s ongoing digital transformation, the future looks promising. Given the changing dynamics of the workplace, our operating model to ‘Work from Anywhere’ means the bank is well placed to leverage the full potential of its key technology platforms to offer a seamless experi- ence to our customers. These attrib- utes will ensure that we continue to generate solid returns for our share- holders and remain ahead of the ex- istential change impacting our industry.” Ahmed Abdelaal, Group CEO, Mashreq Bank, said: “Our focused strategy and advanced digital trans- formation program served Mashreq well throughout the first half of 2021. These fundamentals have ensured that the Bank’s financial strength re- mains robust throughout the period, as evidenced by our capital ade- quacy ratio of 14.0%, Tier 1 ratio of 12.8% and a liquid-to-total-assets ratio of 31.8%. Additionally, our core businesses across retail banking, corporate and investment banking, and our interna- tional franchises remain strong. Loan growth has grown by 8% YTD, and we have seen strong performance across all segments. These results are in line with the broader economic re- covery and are a testament to the ef- ficacy of the bank’s deep customer relationships and customer-centric strategy. The Bank also saw a Yield To Date (YTD) growth of 8.1% in customer deposits and a high share of CASA of over 57% which points towards growing confidence in the national economy. That confidence is tem- pered by a conservative risk policy, which in H1 contributed to a higher level of provisions but a reduction of 20 bps in our nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio. Throughout the first half of the year, we continued to roll out our operat- ing model and invest in our people. We released our inaugural Mashreq Sustainability Report which outlined our commitment to addressing key areas of environment, social and governance (ESG), where our contri- bution can make a meaningful im- pact. We have also seen an acceleration in the scale and com- plexity of our digital transformation from the branches to our partner- ships with FinTechs, and going for- ward, we continue to invest in innovative, creative platforms that add value to our customers and shareholders. I am also proud to announce that Mashreq was once again named the Best Digital Bank in Middle East by Euromoney in 2021. The achieve- ment is our second consecutive win from the Euromoney Awards for Ex- cellence and recognises our objec- tives of driving transformative change and improving the personal- isation of the customer experience for all our stakeholders.” ISSUE 151 JULY 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 25