Commercial Bank of Dubai Posts a Record 2.95 Billion Dirhams Before Tax as SAB Profit Grows

By The Edge Research Team

Commercial Bank of Dubai, or CBD, earned a record 2,948 million dirhams before tax in the first nine months of 2026, up 4.1 percent on a year earlier. Saudi Awwal Bank, known as SAB, lifted nine-month net profit 2.8 percent to 6,582 million riyals. Emirates Islamic grew operating profit 7 percent to 3.3 billion dirhams. All three reported on 21 October, the day Moody’s affirmed SAB’s A1 deposit rating with a stable outlook.

The three join six Saudi lenders and Emirates NBD, whose results The Edge covered on 21 October.

Three Gulf banks grow or hold nine-month profit

Nine months to 30 September 2026, from each bank’s own release or filing. Emirates Islamic did not publish a percentage change for net profit; “broadly stable” is the bank’s own description.

Commercial Bank of Dubai gains pace in the third quarter

The record came with a stronger third quarter. CBD made 1,063 million dirhams before tax between July and September, 9.2 percent more than in the second quarter. After tax, the quarter brought 969 million dirhams, a 9.4 percent gain. Net interest income grew faster still, by 9.7 percent.

That quarter alone produced 36.1 percent of the nine-month pre-tax total, on our calculation. The second and third quarters each beat the one before, on our reading.

CBD’s pre-tax profit rises in the second and third quarters

Q1 (912 million) and first-half (1,885 million) pre-tax profit as published by CBD in April and July 2026. Q2 is the first half less Q1, on our calculation, as is its change on Q1; the Q3 and nine-month changes are as published by the bank.

Over nine months, operating income rose 0.9 percent to 4,440 million dirhams. Non-funded income grew 2.6 percent on fees, and net interest income edged up 0.2 percent. Costs rose 1.4 percent to 1,178 million dirhams, leaving a cost-to-income ratio of 26.53 percent. Impairments fell 22.6 percent to 314 million dirhams. Costs and impairments together took 33.6 percent of operating income, on our calculation.

Corporate tax came to 264 million dirhams, 9.0 percent of pre-tax profit, on our calculation. That leaves nine-month profit after tax of 2,684 million dirhams, on our calculation. Return on equity after tax was 21.38 percent.

The balance sheet grew too. Net loans reached 109.6 billion dirhams, up 8.5 percent since December. That is 8.6 billion more, on our calculation. Total assets rose 4.7 percent over the same period to 167.9 billion dirhams. Current and savings accounts made up 50 percent of deposits.

Asset quality improved. The non-performing loan ratio fell to 2.98 percent, 52 basis points better than a year earlier. Coverage rose to 106.99 percent. Including collateral on Stage 3 loans, it was 153.14 percent. The common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 12.71 percent, and CBD added a 600 million dollar Additional Tier 1 bond in July. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Bernd van Linder said CBD had delivered a “record performance in the first nine months of 2026”.

SAB lends more and keeps its A1 rating

SAB’s nine-month profit rose by 177 million riyals, on our calculation. Third-quarter profit was 2,165 million riyals, up 1.0 percent on the year.

Commission income grew faster than profit. Net special commission income from financing and investments came to 3,071 million riyals in the third quarter, on our sum, against 2,885 million a year earlier. That is a gain of 6.4 percent, on our calculation, in line with the 6 percent the bank reported. Total operating income rose 5.3 percent on the year in the third quarter, to 3,841 million riyals.

Lending led. Loans and advances reached 325.2 billion riyals, 11.0 percent more than a year earlier. Deposits rose 3.3 percent to 325.4 billion, and total assets 6.4 percent to 474.0 billion. Over nine months, SAB spent 30.1 percent of operating income on costs, on our calculation, close to the 29.8 percent of a year earlier.

A lower tax charge helped the bottom line. SAB cited an income tax refund on qualifying government sukuk and bond investments. The gap between pre-tax profit and profit to shareholders narrowed to 731 million riyals from 974 million, on our calculation.

Moody’s puts SAB’s baseline credit assessment at a3 and adds two notches for a very high probability of government support. The agency put the bad-loan ratio at 2.5 percent in June 2026, down from 6.2 percent in 2020. That is 3.7 points lower, on our calculation. Excluding purchased or originated credit-impaired loans, the ratio was 1.3 percent, with coverage at 177 percent. Net income was 1.9 percent of tangible assets in June. Its net loans-to-deposits ratio of 93.6 percent sits “amongst the lowest in the Saudi banking system”, the agency said.

Emirates Islamic grows financing by double digits

Emirates Islamic’s total income rose 6 percent to 4.7 billion dirhams, driven by non-funded income. Expenses grew 5 percent to 1.4 billion dirhams. The cost-to-income ratio improved to 29.5 percent from 29.9 percent a year earlier.

Customer financing reached 101.6 billion dirhams, up 14.4 percent in the first nine months of 2026. Deposits rose 13.4 percent to 115.8 billion dirhams. Against September 2025, financing is up 20 percent and deposits 25 percent, on our calculation. Current and savings accounts made up 63.2 percent of deposits, and the financing-to-deposit ratio was 87.7 percent.

The non-performing financing ratio improved to 2.4 percent from 2.8 percent a year earlier. Coverage stood at 151.5 percent. The capital adequacy ratio was 16.2 percent. The bank serves more than 45,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UAE.

Bad-loan ratios below 3 percent at all three banks

CBD and Emirates Islamic at 30 September 2026, from their releases. SAB at June 2026, from the rating agency’s 21 October affirmation; its coverage excludes purchased or originated credit-impaired loans, and tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets is the agency’s measure, not the same as CET1.

Some lines went the other way. SAB’s third-quarter profit was 7.1 percent below the second quarter, and nine-month pre-tax profit fell 0.9 percent to 7,313 million riyals. Its third-quarter credit-loss provision rose to 362 million riyals from 82 million a year earlier; the bank described the charges as idiosyncratic and said current asset quality remains sound. By the rating agency’s measure, SAB’s tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets eased to 14.2 percent in June from 14.9 percent at end-2025, reflecting lending growth. Emirates Islamic booked a 141 million dirham impairment charge against a 44 million credit a year earlier, and its CET1 ratio was 15.1 percent against 17.7 percent. CBD’s deposits grew 0.7 percent since December, behind its loan growth.

Why it matters: All three banks grew lending while keeping bad-loan ratios below 3 percent, on our reading. SAB’s loans rose 11.0 percent in a year. Emirates Islamic’s financing is up 20 percent on September 2025, on our calculation. CBD’s net loans grew 8.5 percent. At both UAE banks, bad loans fell as a share of lending. That points to healthy credit demand in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with asset quality holding up, on our reading.

Outlook: The rating agency expects SAB’s asset quality to stay broadly stable over the next 12 to 18 months. It sees loan growth broadly in line with the bank’s internal capital generation. CBD is investing in AI, innovation and digitisation, and its July capital issue supports long-term capital planning. Emirates Islamic says its 87.7 percent financing-to-deposit ratio is comfortably within management’s target range. Its capital and liquidity give it the capacity to support financing growth, the bank said.

Sources: Commercial Bank of Dubai, Saudi Awwal Bank, Saudi Exchange, Emirates Islamic, Moody’s, The Edge.

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