DUBAI, 8 May 2007 — Emirates Bank International (EBI), Dubai’s largest lender by market value, plans to expand in Abu Dhabi and may consider an acquisition to get into Kuwait, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer said yesterday.
The Dubai government-controlled lender, which is planning to merge with National Bank of Dubai (NBD), wants 50 percent of its revenue to come from Abu Dhabi operations within a decade, Rick Pudner told Reuters in an interview in Dubai.
“We haven’t really dented Abu Dhabi; it is a huge part of the UAE and is growing very rapidly,” Pudner said.
The bank, which is 77 percent owned by Dubai, operates 37 branches in the United Arab Emirates, of which five are in Abu Dhabi, Pudner said. Under its license, it can open 10 branches a year. “The focus will be on Abu Dhabi,” Pudner said, without being more specific.
“The other markets in which it is very important for us to have a presence are Qatar and Kuwait, for the wealth of expansion in infrastructure and project finance,” Pudner said.
“Kuwait is a difficult market to enter with a license. We would consider an acquisition or investment,” Pudner said. That could include “taking a strategic stake in a lender,” he said, though no specific talks were underway.
Gulf Arab banks have stepped up their expansion plans, facing tougher competition from international lenders such as HSBC Holdings PLC, and from new entrants.