National Bank of Kuwait, the biggest lender in the Gulf country by assets, reported an 8.5 per cent increase in its first-quarter profit due to lower impairment losses.
Net profit for the three-month period ending March 31 climbed to 84.3 million Kuwaiti dinars ($278.8m), the bank said in a statement to Boursa Kuwait, where its shares trade.
Provision charge for credit losses and impairment losses declined 17 per cent annually to 42.6m dinars, while net income from Islamic financing rose 20 per cent to 40.2m dinars. Non-interest income also rose during the period.
Customer deposits dropped 1 per cent to 17 billion dinars and total liabilities rose 0.4 per cent to 26.73bn dinars, the bank said.
“During the first quarter of the year we continued to experience some of the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic including movement restrictions and renewed closures,” NBK group chairman Nasser Al Sayer said.
“Despite these headwinds, NBK was able to grow its profits for the period demonstrating its resilient business model, solid financial fundamentals backed by its prudent income diversification and digital transformation strategies.”
Total assets at the end of March grew 1.5 per cent annually to reach 31bn dinars while total loans and advances increased 0.8 per cent annually to 17.9bn dinars, according to the lender.
Lenders across the region are reporting an improved performance due to lower impairment losses as the economic outlook improves on the back of an accelerated vaccine roll out.
Emirates NBD, Dubai's biggest lender by assets, said on Tuesday its first-quarter profit rebounded 12 per cent owing to lower impairment losses and operating expenses amid a broader economic recovery in its home market.
Earlier this month, Kuwait extended its month-long movement restrictions by two weeks to April 22. As of Tuesday, the country reported 258,497 cases while more than 240,000 people recovered from the infection, according to Worldometer, which tracks the pandemic.
Kuwait is also moving ahead with its vaccination programme to stem the spread of the pandemic.
NBK said it will continue to monitor costs in the current situation and is hopeful it will benefit from a "gradual recovery".
“In light of market conditions, we will continue to closely monitor costs, optimise operations and our balance sheet, and invest in areas where we believe the greatest short- and long-term impact can be achieved,” NBK's group chief executive Isam Al Sager, said.
“We will maintain our conservative approach to risk, allowing us to withstand external pressures until during the gradual normalisation of economic activity, which we are cautiously optimistic will take place in the course of 2021.”
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Makerah, Adrie de Vries, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Hazeme, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap | Dh85,000 | 2,200m
Winner: AF Yatroq, Brett Doyle, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Shadwell Farm for Private Owners Handicap | Dh70,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Nawwaf KB, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Treasured Times, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
