At its Annual General Meeting held in Abu Dhabi, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) approved the distribution of 10% cash dividends and 10% bonus shares to shareholders listed in the share register held with Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) as at 25 March 2010.

The meeting convened under the chairmanship of Mr. Nasser Ahmed Khalifa Alsowaidi, Chairman of the NBAD Board, to review and approve the directors’ report, auditor’s report and the financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2009.

The chairman announced that Mr. Matar Hamdan Al Ameri and Mr. David Beau had been appointed to the board as independent directors. These appointments further confirm NBAD’s commitment to the principles of transparency and corporate governance.

An independent director’s role is to provide assurance of the company’s ethics performance and enhances the credibility of the information provided to stakeholders.

Addressing NBAD’s shareholders Mr. Nasser Ahmed Khalifa Alsowaidi said: "I am pleased with NBAD’s profits which were achieved in extremely challenging local and international operating conditions. The Group’s business model and its businesses once again proved their resilience." NBAD reported flat net profits of AED 3,020 million for the financial year ending 2009 (AED 3,019 million in 2008). Diluted earnings per share were AED 1.35 per share compared with AED 1.37 in 2008. This profit was achieved after taking substantial collective provisions and despite the past year’s credit and liquidity challenges.

Net impairment charges for the full year were AED 1,408 million of which collective provisions were AED 756 million, specific provisions and write-off charges were AED 797 million, mitigated by recoveries of AED 145 million.

Collective provisions of AED 1,604 million represents 1.25% of credit risk weighted assets.

The return on equity for the year is 20% realising our target for 2009. NBAD’s medium term strategic objective is to maintain an average return of 25% over the full economic cycle.

Total assets at the end of 2009 reached AED 197 billion, 19.6% higher than at the end of 2008. Customer deposits rose from AED 103 billion at the end of 2008 to AED 121 billion at the end of 2009, a growth of 17.1%. Customer loans grew from AED 112 billion to AED 132 billion for the same period, a growth of 18.3%.

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