UAB reports 50% increase in Net profit for the First Half of 2025

Business momentum continues to remain robust witnessing continued strong growth

17 July 2025: United Arab Bank (UAB) reported a strong set of financial results for the first half of 2025, with double-digit growth in assets and net profit reflecting continued momentum in business performance and effective strategic execution. These results also mark a significant milestone, as retained earnings turned positive wiping off past accumulated losses, driven by the renewed focus and leadership of the current senior management team.

• Net profit reported at AED 208 million for H1 2025, up by 50% year-on-year as compared to AED 139 million for H1 2024.
• Net profit for the quarter (Q2 2025) was recorded at AED 106 million, up 5% sequentially (vs Q1 2025) and 51% year-on-year.
• EPS increased to AED 0.10 per share for the half-year period in 2025 as compared to AED 0.07 per share in H1 2024.
• Total income increased by 24% year-on-year to AED 374 million for H1 2025 compared to AED 300 million for H1 2024 driven by higher non-interest and net interest income, up 70% and 13%, respectively.
• Disciplined expense management and higher income led to an improvement in cost to income ratio to 47.4% in H1 2025 from 49.4% in the prior comparative period.
• Strong recoveries in the first quarter (Q1 2025) led to a net reversal in impairment charges of AED 32 million for H1 2025 as compared to net reversal in impairment charges of AED 0.2 million in H1 2024. This translates into an annualised cost of risk (CoR) on loans and advances at -59bps.
• Annualised return on shareholders’ equity (RoSE) was 19.8% in H1 2025.
• Total assets reached AED 23.9 billion in H1 2025, up 21% year-on-year and 11% year-to-date.
• Healthy growth in loans, advances and Islamic financing of 29% year-on-year and 16% year-to-date, was well supported by increase in customer deposits of 29% year-on-year and 15% year-to-date, respectively.
• Asset quality metrics maintained their improvement streak with NPL ratio now dropping below 3% to 2.2%, and provision coverage increased to 148%.
• Liquidity and funding metrics also remain healthy with advances to stable resources ratio (ASRR) at 80% and eligible liquid asset ratio (ELAR) at 17%, both comfortably above regulatory thresholds.
• Capital position remains robust with CET1 of 12.1% and total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) at 16.3%.
• During the first half, both, Fitch and Capital Intelligence upgraded the viability ratings (VR) and core financial strength (CFS) ratings, respectively by one notch, reflecting the continued improvement in the bank’s asset quality, liquidity and profitability metrics. UAB’s investment-grade credit ratings of ‘BBB+’ were affirmed by Fitch and Capital Intelligence with a ‘Stable’ outlook, while Moody’s ratings of ‘Baa3’ was also affirmed with a continued ‘Positive’ outlook.
• United Arab Bank is in the process of enhancing its capital by up to AED 1.03 billion through a Rights Issue offered to existing shareholders. This capital injection will increase the total share capital by up to AED 3.09 billion, subject to completion of the process and necessary regulatory approvals, strengthening the Bank’s capital adequacy, and enhance its resilience to any adverse macro-financial shocks, while enabling future asset growth towards achieving its strategic and financial goals.