Emirates Islamic poised for growth

Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) was launched in 2004 to provide high quality Islamic banking services across the UAE. A fully owned subsidiary of Emirates NBD, the bank offers a range of Sharia compliant products and services. Instead of conventional credit facilities like loans and overdrafts, the bank uses Islamic financing methods such as Murabaha, Ijarah and Salam. The bank uses Islamic profit-sharing structures and Islamic investment funds. Following the financial crisis, the bank saw a big surge in asset impairments resulting in 2011 first quarter net loss of Dh20 million compared to net profits of Dh66.6 million in the previous year. For the quarters ahead the bank expects see a consistent decline in impairment charges and improvement in income streams. In a recent interview with Gulf News, Faisal Aqil, general manager of retail banking and acting deputy CEO of Emirates Islamic Bank, said the worst of the financial crisis is behind and the bank is poised to build quality assets in retail corporate and SME (small and medium enterprises) segments of the business that will see a marked improvement in its profitability. The bank expects to see 5 to 10 per cent balance sheet expansion this year. From / Gulf News