UAE’s largest lender buys RBS offshore loan book in India

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the largest lender by assets in the United Arab Emirates, bought Royal Bank of Scotland’s offshore loan book in India for 3 billion dirhams ($816.8 million) in October, the bank’s chief executive Alex Thursby said in a conference call on Wednesday.

The bank is planning to start operations in India next week.
Earlier, NBAD reported a 3 per cent drop in third quarter profit, missing analysts’ forecasts.

NBAD, almost 70 percent owned by Abu Dhabi’s government, made a net profit of 1.33 billion dirhams ($362 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, down from 1.37 billion dirhams in the corresponding period of last year.

Four analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average net profit of 1.45 billion dirhams.