First Gulf Bank increased its 2013 dividend payout by 20% after posting record quarterly earnings, as the United Arab Emirates’ second largest lender by value profits from an economic recovery in the region.
The Abu Dhabi lender proposed a total dividend payout of 3bn dirhams for 2013, up from 2.5bn dirhams in 2012, it said in a statement yesterday. Cash dividends for the year has been raised to one dirham per share from 0.83 dirham per share, FGB said. It also plans a 30% bonus share payout for 2013.
FGB, majority-owned by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, made a net profit of 1.37bn dirhams ($373.2mn) for the three months ended December 31, compared with 1.15bn dirhams a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter provisions were higher at 545.7mn dirhams compared with 428mn dirhams a year ago, taking full year provisions to 1.82bn dirhams, up from 1.65bn dirhams in 2012.
 
Dubai Investments
Conglomerate Dubai Investments reported a more than two-fold jump in its 2013 net profit yesterday, on the back of higher gain on fair value of its investments, profit from sale of properties and reduced finance costs.
The company, in which sovereign fund Investment Corp of Dubai owns an 11.5% stake, posted a net profit of 822mn dirhams ($223.8mn), compared with 321.4mn dirhams in 2012.
Revenue for the period was 2.8bn dirhams compared to 2.3bn dirhams in 2012. The company did not provide quarterly figures.

Palm Hills
Palm Hills, Egypt’s second-biggest listed property developer, turned a profit of 236.8mn Egyptian pounds ($34mn) in 2013, the company said.
The luxury real estate developer made a net loss of 134.6mn pounds in the previous year, it said in a statement.
The firm struggled in 2012 after it faced investigations into previous state land sales and client cancellations after an uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Batelco
Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) posted a 61% drop in fourth-quarter net profit as one-off expenses outweighed a 29% rise in revenue.
The former monopoly made a net profit of 6.9mn dinars ($18.30mn) in the three months to December 31, down from 17.8mn dinars in the year-earlier period.
Batelco made a full-year profit of 43.6mn dinars, down from 60.3mn dinars in the corresponding period of 2012.
Annual revenue rose 21.6% to 370.6mn dinars, while its fourth-quarter revenue of 99.4mn dinars was 29% higher than for the same period of 2012.
Batelco has proposed a full-year dividend of 20 fils per share, plus a 5% bonus share issue.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi
National Bank of Abu Dhabi , the largest lender by market value in the United Arab Emirates, posted fourth-quarter profit that fell marginally from a year earlier, in line with analysts’ estimates.  
NBAD, majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government, said that net profit for the quarter was 1.08bn dirhams ($294mn), slightly lower than 1.12bn dirhams in the year-ago quarter.
Full-year net profit rose 9% to 4.73bn dirhams, NBAD said, adding that it was recommending a cash dividend of 0.4 dirhams per share for investors.

Gulf Bank
Kuwait’s Gulf Bank reported a 4% rise in 2013 net profit and said it would pay a dividend of 5% through an issue of bonus shares.
Kuwait’s fourth-largest lender by assets said full-year net profit was 32.16mn dinars ($113.94mn), compared with 30.89mn dinars in the same period a year ago.
It gave no quarterly figures and did not give details on who would succeed Chief Executive Michel Accad, announced in October that he was resigning for personal reasons.

Dubai Islamic Bank
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Shariah-compliant lender in the emirate, posted a 66.2% jump in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations, on the back of lower financing costs and impairment charges.
The average forecast of three analysts polled by Reuters was for a net profit of 412.3mn dirhams.
The calculation was based on previous financial statements. DIB said its net profit for the full year increased 42%, hitting 1.72bn dirhams.
DIB also said in the bourse filing that it was proposing a cash dividend of 0.25 dirhams per share for 2013. This is higher than the 0.15 dirhams per share paid for 2012. Impairment charges fell to 820mn dirhams during 2013 from 1.09bn dirhams in 2012.