2026-07-23
First Abu Dhabi Bank reported a net profit of AED 10.73 billion for the first half of 2026, up 1% year on year, with its loan book growing 7% to AED 661 billion. The results landed on 2026-07-23, the same morning that Emirates NBD published its own half year numbers, which means the two largest banks in the country closed the first half within hours of each other and both showed expanding credit. For a business operating in the Emirates, the loan growth line is the one that matters. Profit tells you how the bank did. Lending tells you what the bank is willing to do for you.
What FAB reported for the first half
Operating income for the six months reached AED 19.50 billion, 7% higher than a year earlier. Profit before tax came to AED 13.20 billion, up 3%, and net profit after tax was AED 10.73 billion, up 1%. The gap between the pre-tax and post-tax lines, roughly AED 2.5 billion, is the arithmetic reminder that UAE corporate tax is now a permanent line in every large balance sheet in the country, banks included.
Net interest income for the half was AED 11.48 billion. Non-interest income, meaning fees, trading and advisory revenue, reached AED 8.02 billion and made up 41% of operating income. That is a high non-interest share by regional standards and it says the bank is not relying purely on the rate cycle to earn.
The second quarter was the stronger of the two. Operating profit passed AED 8.0 billion, up 11% from the first quarter and 8% from a year earlier, and quarterly profit before tax reached AED 7.08 billion, up 16% quarter on quarter and 6% year on year. Management stated the half came in above the bank's own medium term guidance.
Group Chief Executive Hana Al Rostamani framed the result as evidence of franchise scale and consistent strategy execution, pointing to disciplined execution and targeted investment in artificial intelligence. Group Chief Financial Officer Lars Kramer highlighted the quarterly operating profit passing AED 8.0 billion as a sign of broad based momentum and cost discipline.
The balance sheet: where the growth actually sits
Total assets stood at AED 1.41 trillion, up 2% since the end of 2025, keeping FAB the largest bank in the UAE by assets. Loans and advances grew 7% to AED 661 billion. Customer deposits reached AED 853 billion, up 1%.
Read those three numbers together and a picture emerges. Lending grew seven times faster than deposits during the half. A bank whose loan book expands well ahead of its deposit base is deploying existing liquidity rather than hoarding it, and it is doing so from a position of strength: the liquidity coverage ratio was 140%, down from 152% a year earlier but far above the regulatory floor. The common equity tier one ratio improved to 13.7% from 13.4%. Return on tangible equity was 18.5%, down from 20.5%, which is what happens when a bank grows the balance sheet faster than the profit line.
Asset quality held. The non performing loan ratio was 2.2%, broadly in line with the sector. Nothing in the disclosure suggests the credit growth came at the cost of underwriting standards.
International business is now a quarter of the story
International assets reached AED 437 billion, or 31% of the group total, and international revenue grew 35% during the half to account for 22% of group revenue. That is a meaningful shift for a bank historically anchored in Abu Dhabi corporate and government business.
For companies structured in the UAE with operations or counterparties abroad, this matters practically. A bank earning a fifth of its revenue outside the country has correspondent relationships, cross border settlement capability and jurisdiction specific compliance teams that a purely domestic lender does not. It also means the bank has commercial reason to bank internationally exposed clients rather than treating them as a complication.
By segment, Investment Banking and Markets produced AED 6.42 billion of revenue, up 8%, with loans in that division up 22% and deposits up 10%. Wholesale Banking generated AED 3.41 billion, up 16%, the fastest growing segment in the group. Personal and Wealth Banking contributed AED 6.58 billion, up 2%, with retail assets under management up 20% year on year. The bank also placed a $750 million Tier 2 note at what it described as the tightest spread achieved by a GCC bank.
The SME number worth circling
Buried in the disclosure is the figure most relevant to a small or mid sized company in the Emirates: new to bank customer acquisition in the SME segment rose 85%.
Small and medium business onboarding has been the hardest part of UAE banking for years. Compliance costs made small accounts unattractive, and many companies with genuine operations waited months or were declined outright. An 85% jump in new SME clients at the country's largest bank is a signal that the economics of that segment have changed, helped in part by automation. FAB reported that its artificial intelligence programme delivered productivity gains of more than 20% and cut manual work by 70% to 80%. Cheaper processing makes smaller accounts viable, and viable accounts get opened.
Reading the two big results together
Because FAB and Emirates NBD reported on the same morning, the pair gives an unusually clean read on UAE banking at the halfway mark of 2026. FAB grew lending 7% with operating income up 7%. Emirates NBD posted a record AED 16.2 billion pre-tax profit with gross loans up 17% and deposits up 13%. Different growth rates, same direction. Both banks expanded credit, both held capital ratios comfortably above requirements, and neither reported deteriorating asset quality.
Two of the largest lenders in the region growing their books simultaneously, with capital to spare, is the definition of an open credit window. Windows close. This one is open now.
Checklist for a company reading these results
- If a facility is on your 2026 plan, start the conversation while both major banks are actively growing their loan books.
- Approach more than one lender. FAB and Emirates NBD are competing for the same corporate mandates, and competition shows up in pricing and in speed.
- If you are an SME that was declined or delayed in a previous year, reapply. The 85% jump in new SME clients means the screening economics have shifted.
- Match your trade licence activities to your actual invoice flow before you apply. Mismatch remains the single most common reason a clean company fails onboarding.
- If your business has cross border flows, ask specifically about the bank's international coverage in your corridor rather than assuming a UAE licence covers it.
- Budget for corporate tax as a standing item. The AED 2.5 billion gap between FAB's pre-tax and post-tax profit is the same arithmetic every UAE company now runs.
How Atlant Capital can help
A bank's willingness to lend is only half of the equation. The other half is whether your file survives compliance, and that is decided by how the company was built. We handle company setup in the mainland and free zones, selecting a structure and activity list that banks recognise instead of one that triggers questions, and we run corporate bank account opening end to end: bank selection matched to your activity and volumes, the document pack, the source of funds narrative and follow up with the relationship manager. Our UAE bank account opening guide sets out exactly what compliance teams examine before they approve.
The bottom line
FAB closed the first half of 2026 with AED 10.73 billion of net profit, AED 19.50 billion of operating income, a loan book up 7% at AED 661 billion, a CET1 ratio of 13.7% and a non performing loan ratio of 2.2%. International revenue grew 35% and new SME clients grew 85%. The bank beat its own guidance. Combined with Emirates NBD's record half published the same day, the message for businesses in the Emirates is straightforward: the country's banking system has capacity, appetite and capital, and the practical constraint on credit right now is the quality of your file, not the willingness of the lender.
Source: FAB H1 2026 results, reported 2026-07-23 by Gulf News, with figures cross checked against AGBI and Economy Middle East. Net interest income growth rate is reported inconsistently across outlets and is therefore given here as an absolute figure only. No interim dividend was disclosed in the reporting reviewed.
