Head-to-head: Top 2 UAE Islamic banks asset growth 2008-2016

Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank are the United Arab Emirates' two largest standalone Shariah-compliant banks by assets. Since the global financial crisis in 2007, their asset growth has ebbed and flowed. 

ADIB's rate of growth year-on-year has been the more volatile, ranging from a high of 25.14 pct in 2009 to -1.23 pct in 2011.

DIB's asset rate of growth has been steadily increasing from -0.53 percent in 2009 to a high of 20.99 pct in 2015.

REAL ESTATE EXPOSURE

DIB's real estate exposure is substantially higher than ADIB's. 

Following the hit it took as a result of the global financial crisis and Dubai's debt crunch and real estate crisis, DIB successfully reduced its exposure to real estate from 41 percent in 2009 to almost half, 24 percent by 2014. 

The bank tightened its underwriting standards for real estate financing, and focused more on assignment of proceeds from other cash-generating sources. DIB has been diversifying away from real estate by increasing its exposure to strong credit quality government-related exposures (GREs) and the services sector, according to credit rating agency Fitch in July 2017. 

NPAs

The two banks' non-performing assets, or NPAs, which are financings that are in arrears or at risk of defaulting, have substantially improved from 2011, when the fallout from the global financial crisis and Dubai's debt crunch, hit the banks. 

DIB's NPA significantly improved from 13.9 percent in 2011 to 3.9 percent in 2016. ADIB's has similarly dropped from 11.5 percent in 2011 to 4 percent in 2016. 

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