Dubai – Mubasher: Mashreq Bank on Sunday reported robust results for the first nine months of 2018, citing higher non-interest income.

The bank achieved AED 1.7 billion ($460 million) in net profits between January and September 2018, up 5% year-on-year, while operating income grew 3.6% to AED 4.6 billion.

Impairment allowance fell 8.6% year-on-year during the nine months to September, the bank said in a statement.

“Mashreq’s best-in-class non-interest income to operating income ratio remained high at 39.2%,” the bank revealed, noting that insurance, currency exchange and other income jumped 47.6% year-on-year during the nine-month period.

Total assets grew 9.8% in the year to AED 137.4 billion, while loans and advanced were up 10.6% to AED 69.3 billion compared to December 2017, the Dubai-listed bank revealed.

Commenting on Mashreq Bank’s results, CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair said that the bank’s positive results for the third quarter and nine-month period were a testament to the bank’s continued investment in innovation and transformation.

Customer deposits were up 8.1% year-to-date to AED 82.2 billion, while the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio “remained robust at 84.3% at the end of September 2018.”

“As one of the most innovative banks in the region, we remain committed to investing in state-of-the-art technology including robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, ensuring our customers benefit from a modern, simplified and intuitive banking experience,” the CEO stated.

He added that Mashreq has already accomplished several major milestones both for its front and back-end processes, noting that the Dubai-listed bank would continue to showcase its “agility” and “thirst for disruption” as its strives to be the region’s preferred banking partner. 

Mashreq previously said it achieved AED 563 million in net profit during the second quarter of 2018, up 1% from a year ago, while for the six months to June, the bank logged AED 1.161 billion versus AED 1.103 billion in the same period of 2017.