Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) posted net profits attributable to the bank's shareholders of AED 4.819 billion in the first half (H1) of 2020, down 24% from AED 6.327 billion in the same half of 2019.

The decline in net profits is driven by higher impairment provisions and lower revenues and costs, according to the bank's financial results for the period ended on 30 June 2020.

The bank's net interest income declined to AED 6.323 billion in H1-20 from AED 6.415 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The lender's total assets recorded AED 865.99 billion as of 30 June, compared to AED 821.968 billion in 2019.

The annualised earnings per share (EPS) stood at AED 0.84 in the first six months of 2020 from AED 1.12 in the corresponding months of 2019.

In the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, the bank's net profits dropped to AED 2.411 billion from AED 3.22 billion in Q1-19.

FAB group CEO, André Sayegh, said: "Our strategic actions have enabled us to further strengthen our balance sheet, with a strong growth in customer deposits demonstrating FAB’s unique position as an aggregator of regional and global liquidity and our flight-to-safety status in such volatile market conditions."

Meanwhile, FAB Group Chief Financial Officer, James Burdett, remarked: "In the context of a challenging and uncertain environment, we continued to build our provision buffers, leading to a substantial increase in impairment charges, while our high-quality portfolio and conservative asset mix are key differentiators."

It is noteworthy to highlight that in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, the bank's net profits dropped by 22.49% to AED 2.408 billion, compared to AED 3.106 billion in the same quarter of 2019.