The Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (Al Masraf) recorded a net profit of AED 405 million in 2015-- showing a development of 11 per cent as compared to the AED 366 million earnings it posted in 2014. The amazing development of the revenues is a result of Al Masraf's move to expand its loan portfolio by 28.2 per cent to reach AED 9,43 billion in 2015.

The financial outcomes demonstrate the strong efficiency accomplished by Al Masraf in 2015 and its high-level capabilities that contributed in broadening its lending portfolio, primarily targeted towards the industrial sector. The bank has high monetary solvency that meet and surpass the requirements of both the Central Bank of the UAE and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of Al Masraf is 24.5 per-cent, which is a high rate that reflects its capability to expand credits effectively and competitively in the UAE market that witness sharp competitors among banks.

In line with this, Al Masraf's board of directors suggested the approval of monetary statements and operational results of 2015 throughout its current conference, which was held on February 14, 2016.

Talking about the monetary outcomes of 2015, Mohamed M Ben Yousef, Chairman, Al Masraf, said "We are happy with the strong financial efficiency of 2015. We succeeded to attain positive results in spite of the strong competition within the regional banking market and the local and worldwide markets' variations due to oil rate decrease, especially in the last few months of 2015. We were able to face the emerging obstacles and improve our monetary results, making the most of the strong worldwide position of the UAE, which has a diverse financial base, modern-day infrastructure and business-friendly environment.".

Faisal Galadari, Chief Executive Officer, Al Masraf validated the dedication of the Board of Directors to offer continuous assistance for all steps aimed at making qualitative changes in Al Masraf's efficiency, which contributed to the growth of all efficiency indicators in 2015, regardless of the tough conditions experienced by the local and global markets and the falling of oil rates. Galadari also revealed his joy for the success Al Masraf in increasing the value of assets by 5 percent to AED 15 billion, highlighting the achievements made in strengthening Al Masraf's consumer base and the enhancement in its capability to bring in deposits, which enhanced by 9 per-cent to account to AED 9.5 billion.

Galadari included, "We are proud of the positive monetary results accomplished throughout year, which were mainly reflected in the increase of loans and centers portfolio by more than 28 percent to AED 9.4 billion, the increase in our operating profits by 13 percent and the development of our net profits by 11 percent.".

Galadari confirmed that the percentage of non-performing loans in Al Masraf fell from 9 percent in 2014 to 6 percent in 2015, while the protection ratio of these debts increased to 122 per-cent.

Galadari forecasts that the bank will experience the very same strong performance and rate of growth in 2016, pointing out that the raising of rate of interest in the market would even more boost the competition between banks and press them to place on more appealing products in the market.

"In 2016, Al Masraf will introduce new items to attract more deposits and customers, and will continue moving forward in carrying out the enthusiastic three-year technique. Our focus will be on establishing the banking business in accordance with modern banking systems in regards to using banking innovation, and on improving ATMs and presenting new credit and debit cards. Al Masraf has actually invested about AED 30 million in the field of contemporary banking innovation, and we will remain to invest and leverage on the technological abilities," stated Galadari.

"Al Masraf is preparing to open a brand-new branch in Ras Al Khaimah and another branch in Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai in the second half of this year-- to come to an overall variety of 12 branches by the end of 2016. The bank is effectively operating an Islamic Window offering Sharia complaint products and services to our clients. We will continue establishing our personnels through the launch of training and rehab programs and bring in local talents to achieve our ambitious goal of enhancing the Emiratization rate to more than 30 per-cent by the end of 2016," concluded Galadari.