Ajman Bank achieves the highest annual profits in its history, amounting to 440 million dirhams
AJMAN, 22nd January, WAM / His Highness Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, Chairman of the Executive Council, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ajman Bank, chaired the bank’s Board of Directors meeting, in the presence of Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank. Bank management.
During the meeting held at the bank’s headquarters, the Board discussed a number of financial and administrative matters, reviewed the regular business and issued its decisions regarding them.
Ajman Bank announced achieving the highest annual profits in its history during the year 2024, amounting to 440 million UAE dirhams (profit before tax), recording a growth of 213% compared to net losses of 390 million dirhams during the year 2023.
During the meeting, the Board of Directors proposed distributing cash dividends of 7.25%, for shareholders’ approval during the next General Assembly meeting.
This exceptional performance of the bank is due to the increase in total operating income, which reached 1.5 billion dirhams, achieving a net operating income of 736 million dirhams, and an increase in the return on shareholders’ equity and return on assets during the year 2024, with the former reaching 12.9% (an increase of 2,745 basis points) and the latter 1.8% ( An increase of 332 basis points).
These strong results are supported by a balanced and improved balance sheet with total assets of 23 billion dirhams, customer deposits of 19 billion dirhams, and total shareholders’ equity of 3.1 billion dirhams.
His Highness Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi said: “Ajman Bank’s unprecedented financial results are evidence of the strength of its strategic vision and the bank’s commitment to providing shareholders with sustainable value.”
His Highness added that Ajman Bank continues to play a pivotal role in supporting the growth of the UAE’s economy, and its exceptional success confirms our flexibility and ability to adapt to the ever-changing financial sector situation.
His Highness expressed his deep gratitude to the members of the Board of Directors, the senior executive management and all employees of Ajman Bank for their pivotal role in achieving this success thanks to their dedication and exceptional performance.
For his part, Mustafa Al-Khalafawi, CEO of Ajman Bank, said that the outstanding performance in 2024 embodied the success of the bank’s transformational strategy to raise the value and positive return for our shareholders, expand our customer base, and invest in our competencies that constitute speed, service, and specialization in the field, which is one of our main principles, in addition to our constant commitment to innovation. And providing sustainable solutions according to customer needs, which helped us enhance our efficiency and reduce general and administrative expenses by 5%.”
He added that focusing on addressing troubled assets played a major role in this strong recovery that strengthens our financial position, and this success would not have been possible without the dedication and effort of the bank’s team, which continues to lead us towards new horizons.
Al-Khalafawy added that the bank looks forward to maintaining its commitment to generating sustainable long-term value for stakeholders and strengthening its position as a major player in the banking sector in the UAE.
The bank’s capital position and asset quality continue to show a very significant improvement compared to last year, and this is confirmed by the significant improvement in the basic rates, which was represented by a decrease in the percentage of non-performing loans from 13.8% to 9.9%, and this is mainly due to the bank’s success in processing 31% of those loans. It helped him compensate 19.6% of the specified allocations, and the percentage of covering expected financial losses doubled from 1.0% to 2.1% as the bank increased its reserves to strengthen its position. Much higher than the average requirement for the sector, the overall provision coverage ratio also witnessed a dramatic improvement of 22%.
The bank continues to diversify its portfolio with a reduction in risk-based real estate financing by 7.3% and an increased focus on high-quality assets in various fields.
After its strong performance, Ajman Bank achieved an increase in its capital adequacy ratio to 19.1% (an increase of 348 basis points) and Tier 1 capital adequacy to 18.0% (an increase of 348 basis points), remaining well above regulatory requirements.
The Loans to Stable Resources ratio of 76.3% and the Eligible Liquid Assets ratio of 17.1% indicate excellent liquidity and together with the capital position provide a strong foundation for continued growth.
Ajman Bank was able to reduce general and administrative expenses by 5% compared to last year, despite starting to implement transformational activities and focusing on investing in technology in 2024.
The bank believes that the solid and ever-improving financial foundation, the significant momentum in its transformation strategy, and the solidity of the UAE economy will help it maintain strong growth momentum and continued profitability during 2024 and beyond.
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