Bank confirms its losses widened from 2019 to 2020
United Arab Bank (UAB) has blamed its exposure to NMC, as well as some legacy issues and the COVID-19 pandemic for its recent losses, which widened in 2020.
The bank reported a net loss of 667.3 million dirhams ($182 million) for 2020, after a loss of 470.7 million dirhams in 2019.
In a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), UAB said last year’s results were “predominantly driven by higher impairment charges due to the bank’s legacy issues”.
“[This was] further exacerbated by the challenging operating environment driven by COVID-19 and the low interest rate environment, as well as its exposure to NMC and its associated accounts,” UAB said.
UAB’s revenue dropped from 544.7 million dirhams in 2019 to 402.8 million dirhams in 2020.
The statement said despite macroeconomic headwinds, the bank had managed to maintain adequate levels of capital, with capital adequacy ratio of 13.7 percent, a CET1 ratio of 12.5 percent and a provision coverage ratio of 99 percent.
The bank said operating costs reduced by 17 percent year-on-year to 262 million dirhams.
NMC was placed into administration in April.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) was reported last year to have close to $1 billion of exposure to the healthcare provider.
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