Emirates NBD held its 18th General Assembly Meeting on Tuesday, Feb.24, 2025.
At the General Assembly Meeting, a review of the Group’s performance during 2024 was presented.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, Emirates NBD Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said: “The story of Dubai and the UAE in 2024 is one of relentless ambition and boundless opportunity. Dubai and the UAE had another exceptional year, cementing their position among the leading global hubs for innovation, talent, and investment. Dubai’s GDP grew by 3.2 per cent in 2024 to reach Dhs443 billion, driven by the expansion of key sectors, including transport, hospitality, logistics, and financial services.”
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed added: “A key catalyst in this remarkable growth story is Emirates NBD, which continues to perform and transform, as Dubai’s largest bank and the most profitable financial institution in the region. The Dubai Economic Agenda, D33 aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy by 2033 and position the city among the top three global cities.”
“Emirates NBD is actively driving progress through strategic initiatives that prioritise innovation, financial inclusion, and sustainable growth, solidifying its standing as a critical enabler in Dubai’s vision.” “Our landmark financial performance has been achieved in harmony with Emirates NBD’s longstanding commitment to responsibility and sustainability. In 2024, Emirates NBD expanded its sustainable finance offerings with innovative solutions, such as Sustainable Fixed Deposits and ESG-linked working-capital facilities for customers across the region. It also introduced the region’s first globally recognised Sustainability- Linked Loan Bond Framework, fully aligned with the latest International Capital Market Association guidelines,’’ he noted.
“Our ESG Forward Journey outlines a comprehensive roadmap to enhance sustainable finance governance, achieve net zero emissions for key sectors, and reduce Scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions by 30% from the 2023 baseline by 2030. We have also committed to provide $30 billion in sustainable finance and achieve 25 per cent female representation in senior leadership by 2027.”
Emirates NBD’s profit before tax is 15 per cent higher on significant loan growth, a low-cost funding base and strong transaction volumes and substantial recoveries. Emirates NBD’s profit after tax is at Dhs23 billion up 7 per cent.
Bank’s total income up to Dhs44.1 billion on strong loan growth coupled with an excellent stable and low-cost funding mix.
The General Assembly Meeting passed a number of resolutions including the approval of the Board’s proposal to distribute cash dividends for the year ended 31 December 2024 of Dhs1 per ordinary share (100 per cent), being Dhs6,316,598,253 in total, to shareholders on the register of the Bank’s shareholders at the close of the trading on 6 March 2025. It also approved the report of the board of directors (the Board) on the Bank’s activities and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Meanwhile Emirates NBD (ENBD), a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye (Menat) region, has released the global investment outlook for 2025.
Themed “Winds of Change”, the 2025 outlook was revealed by Maurice Gravier, Group Chief Investment Officer at Emirates NBD at a media roundtable. Speaking to the media, Gravier and his team presented their investment strategy for the year ahead, which starts with improved visibility and strong financial returns from 2024, “The Year of Answers”.
Opening the discussion, Gravier said: “By contrast to 2024, attention should switch from the present to the future, due to material emerging changes. New leaders will implement new policies, while the geopolitical picture will evolve, commercially and militarily. National and regional priorities should prevail and create divergences.”
He added: “We believe that macro-economic uncertainty, driven by political changes, could prove much higher than the consensus suggests. This is not adverse for long-term investors: markets overreact on surprises, providing opportunities for those who keep the medium-term picture in mind. Volatility and divergences are a pool of alpha for active allocation and selection. To that extent, Emirates NBD’s Group Chief Investment Office has added two new functions in 2024: quantitative tactical analysis to identify short-term signals, starting with FX and commodities, and onshore bespoke discretionary portfolio management, to constantly and swiftly adjust positioning on behalf of Private Banking clients, under their very own guidelines.”
On the economic outlook, Gravier said: “Our Emirates NBD Research Team expects a stable but moderate global growth in 2025, similar to 2024 on aggregate but with regional differences.
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