Dubai – Mubasher: Mashreq Bank reported a 5% year-on-year growth in profits for the first quarter of 2019, according to the lender’s filing to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Tuesday.

Net profits of the UAE’s leading financial institution stood at AED 628 million in Q1-19, compared to AED 598.16 million in Q1-18.

“Mashreq’s constant push for innovation and our commitment to being a customer-focused bank has yet again manifested itself in a solid set of financial results for the first quarter of 2019. I am pleased to announce that we have posted growth in both our revenue and net profit over the recorded period,” Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq Bank, commented.

Similarly, operating revenues levelled up 3.4% to AED 1.56 billion in Q1-19, from AED 1.51 billion during the same period of the prior year.

Meanwhile, customer deposits declined 3.1% year-on-year to AED 80.6 billion in the three-month period ended in March.

“Our customers are the focal point of our strategy and that will continue to remain the case as we look to take banking to the next level in the region. This ambition is the cornerstone of our recent branch transformation strategy,” Al Ghurair added.

It is worth noting that the bank posted a 0.4% year-on-year increase in profits for the full-year 2018, recording AED 2.1 billion.