NBAD plans expansion to raise assets to Dh1trn

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is planning a worldwide expansion it hopes will increase its assets to around Dh1 trillion and quadruple its annual profits. Tomorrow's news tonightStay ahead of the competition and get the cream of the content from the business desk of The National direct to your inbox before it is published in print. Industry Insights newsletter:Click to register NBAD, the biggest bank in the capital, hopes to increase its annual earnings to Dh16bn by 2021, the bank said in a presentation at its shareholder meeting last night. The bank will grow through expansions in a number of international markets including Brazil, Australia, India and Indonesia, following imminent moves planned for Malaysia and China. "We'd like to get up to around number 100 in the world," said Michael Tomalin, the bank's chief executive. The bank announced that Mr Tomalin would retire at an unspecified date in the future, once a successor is "firmly in place". Mr Tomalin would stay on as a non-executive director after his retirement. He joined the bank in 1999. The bank will seek to increase its presence in India, which is the "missing link" in the bank's worldwide reach, Mr Tomalin said. NBAD also plans to grow through "intermediating trade and investment flows between the Middle East and South America," he added, where Gulf banks have little presence. The bank generated profits of Dh3.8bn in 2011, a 0.8 per cent increase on a year earlier. At its annual general meeting, some shareholders complained that higher dividends were available at other UAE lenders. In response, the bank's board increased its planned distribution of bonus shares to 35 per cent from 30 per cent originally announced. The bank retained the original 30 per cent cash dividend.