Sharjah Islamic Bank opened 2026 with a sharp rise in quarterly earnings, reporting net profit after tax of AED 380.7 million for the three months to March 31, up 19.4 per cent from AED 318.9 million a year earlier, as stronger financing income, higher fee generation and steady asset quality helped offset a rise in operating costs. The Sharjah lender said income from investments in Islamic financing and sukuk climbed 14.4 per cent to about AED 1.05 billion in the first quarter, from AED 914.3 million in the same period of 2025. Total operating income rose 21.1 per cent to roughly AED 644.1 million, supported by a 9.3 per cent increase in net fee, commission and other operating income to AED 179.7 million. That combination points to a business mix still led by core financing activity but with growing support from non-funded income.
Expenses also moved higher. General and administrative costs rose 17.9 per cent to AED 233.8 million, which the bank linked to spending on talent, technology and operational infrastructure. Even so, net operating income before impairment provisions increased 23.1 per cent to AED 410.3 million, suggesting that revenue growth outpaced the expansion in the cost base during the quarter.
Balance-sheet trends were equally important to the quarter’s showing. Total assets stood at AED 90.9 billion at the end of March, up about 1 per cent from year-end 2025. Investments in Islamic financing increased to AED 46.8 billion from AED 45.6 billion, while customer deposits rose more sharply to AED 61.4 billion from AED 55.7 billion. That pushed the financing-to-deposit ratio down to 76 per cent from 82 per cent at the end of last year, giving the bank a more comfortable funding profile as it enters the rest of 2026. Liquidity remained strong at 21.8 per cent of total assets, equivalent to AED 19.8 billion.
Credit quality held broadly steady. The non-performing financing ratio remained at 3.8 per cent, unchanged from year-end 2025, while the coverage ratio stood at 107 per cent against 109 per cent at the close of last year. Impairment charges on financial assets were AED 30.5 million, with recoveries of AED 39.2 million, reflecting a financing book that appears resilient even as regional businesses continue to navigate a less predictable external environment.
Profitability ratios improved alongside the headline earnings growth. Return on assets reached 1.68 per cent and return on equity 16.27 per cent, compared with 1.55 per cent and 14.78 per cent respectively a year earlier. For investors, those figures matter because they show the bank was not simply expanding its balance sheet, but extracting better returns from it.
The first-quarter results also land at a strategic moment for the bank. Late last month, Sharjah Islamic Bank launched a rights issue designed to raise as much as AED 2.59 billion by offering up to 1.08 billion new shares at AED 2.40 apiece. The proposal would lift issued capital from AED 3.24 billion to as much as AED 4.31 billion. Management has framed the move as a way to reinforce capital and support future balance-sheet growth, a signal that the bank sees room to expand lending and deepen its position in a competitive domestic market.
That expansion plan follows a strong 2025. The bank’s general assembly was told net profit for last year reached AED 1.32 billion, up 26 per cent from AED 1.05 billion in 2024, while the bank proposed a 20 per cent cash dividend. SIB’s own investor material lists 2025 total operating income at AED 2.5 billion and total assets at AED 90.3 billion, underlining that the March quarter continued a growth trajectory already visible in the previous financial year.
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