CEO at Dubai’s biggest bank resigns

DUBAI: Rick Pudner, chief executive of Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, is resigning, the bank said without giving a reason.
Pudner is expected to stay in the job until the end of this year; “then he will hand over the role to a new leader as part of the succession planning process and the organization’s strategy for change and transformation,” ENBD said in a brief e-mailed statement.
The statement said Pudner had joined ENBD over seven years ago and had contributed to all the achievements of the bank.
ENBD is due to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday; the average forecast of three analysts is for the bank to post a 5.4 percent rise in net profit versus the same quarter last year to AED 676 million ($ 184 million).
Pudner’s departure comes at a key time for the bank as it embarks on overseas expansion; Pudner said last November that ENBD aimed for international revenues of around 15-20 percent of its total in five years’ time, up from 5 percent at present.
ENBD, 56 percent-owned by state fund Investment Corp. of Dubai, is close to completing a $ 500 million purchase of BNP Paribas’ Egyptian assets.
Pudner joined Emirates Bank as chief executive in early 2006.
A year later, the bank merged with National Bank of Dubai in one of the region’s largest tie-ups to form ENBD. Previously, Pudner worked for over 24 years at HSBC.