Skip to main content

icnlive

Menu
Menu
icn.lıve
WATCH LIVE. THINK BUSINESS.
Menu
X-twitter Linkedin-in Instagram Youtube

© 2026 ICN.LIVE
  • Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Khaled chairs Abu Dhabi Council’s first meeting powered by agentic AI

Sheikh Khaled chairs Abu Dhabi Council, and its latest meeting placed an agentic AI platform inside government decision-making for the first time.

Trending Economy

Explore Section:

TECH
AI
Capital
Politics
Banking
Health
CBI first half 2026 profit
  • Banking

CBI’s first-half 2026 profit reached AED156 million, up 68 percent from the same period a year earlier. The result at Commercial Bank International rested on a wider balance sheet and money recovered from older accounts.

Second-quarter pre-tax net profit came to AED104 million. Recoveries linked to the clearing of legacy accounts lifted the quarter, and that pattern shaped the half-year figure.

What lifted CBI’s first-half 2026 profit

Net interest income rose 8 percent year-on-year to AED207 million. Growth in customer assets carried the increase. In the second quarter, net interest income climbed 9 percent to AED103 million, up from AED95 million a year earlier. The bank earns net interest income on the gap between what it charges borrowers and what it pays depositors. A bigger loan book widened that gap over the half.

The rise in CBI pre-tax net profit also tracked a sharp move in provisions. CBI booked a net impairment recovery of AED69 million. The figure reflects better asset quality as older accounts were settled. Legacy accounts are older loans and exposures a bank flags as troubled. Clearing them frees capital and can turn past write-downs into gains when borrowers repay, or assets sell.

Balance sheet and deposits

Total assets rose 12 percent year-on-year to AED23 billion. Loan growth and a larger strategic investment portfolio drove the gain. Customer deposits grew 7 percent to AED16.4 billion, which strengthened liquidity and the funding base.

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.5 percent. That level sits above the minimum set by regulators, leaving room to fund further lending. A cushion above the regulatory floor lets a bank keep lending through a downturn without breaching its limits.

Ali Sultan Rakkad Al Amri, chief executive of Commercial Bank International, tied the results to the bank’s transformation. The chief executive said the first-half figures reflected continued momentum, with profit growth built on disciplined execution, balance sheet work, and progress in resolving legacy accounts. He called the operating model resilient.

Al Amri pointed to solid fundamentals behind the performance. He cited a focus on a customer-centred experience across products, services, and channels, and on longer customer relationships.

Where the numbers sit among UAE bank results 2026

The half-year figure followed a first quarter in which CBI reported pre-tax net profit of AED52.1 million, up 14 percent year-on-year. For the full year 2025, the bank posted pre-tax net profit of AED311 million, its highest annual figure on record. The CBI first half 2026 profit outpaced the first-quarter run rate by a wide margin.

Commercial Bank International began operating in 1991 and is based in Dubai. Its shares trade on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, and the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities and Commodities Authority oversee it. Set against the broader run of UAE bank results 2026, the bank’s steadier asset quality and firm capital position point to a lender closing the gap on larger peers.

Looking ahead, Al Amri said the bank would keep building its operational strength and financial position. He linked that work to supporting customers and delivering sustainable growth and long-term value for clients and shareholders.

  • 3 min read
$16 billion pipeline lease
  • Kuwait

The $16 billion pipeline lease signed by Kuwait Oil Company gives three of the world’s biggest investors a share of the oil arteries that have carried Kuwaiti crude for decades. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation announced the agreement on Saturday. Its subsidiary, KOC, leases usage rights to all 13 of its pipelines into a newly formed Kuwaiti joint venture. Backing that venture: Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR.

Here’s the clever part. The pipelines never leave Kuwaiti hands.

How the $16 billion pipeline lease works

The structure is a lease-and-leaseback agreement, and it runs 20.5 years. KOC leases the network to the joint venture, then the venture leases the same pipelines straight back to KOC. In return, KOC keeps exclusive rights to use, operate and maintain every kilometre, and pays a tariff tied to the volume of crude that flows through. Roughly 320 kilometres of pipe sit inside the deal.

Ownership splits cleanly. KOC holds 51% of the joint venture and full operational control. Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR share the other 49%, each taking an equal one-third slice. The State of Kuwait still decides how much oil the country pumps and refines. No investor gets a vote on that.

Why $7.85 billion matters now

Cash is the point. The $16 billion pipeline lease is expected to generate $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds for KOC once the transaction closes. That money feeds Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s spending plans, including a target of 4 million barrels of crude production capacity a day by 2035.

Think of it like remortgaging a house you fully intend to keep living in. You pull cash out today against an asset you still control, and you agree to steady payments over time. Kuwait gets funding without selling the pipelines or handing over the taps.

A signal to global investors

The timing tells its own story. Shaikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, Deputy Chairman and CEO of KPC, called Project Peregrine the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history. He said the deal shows Kuwait rising as a destination for global capital, even amid a challenging regional environment.

That environment is real. The agreement lands as regional tensions weigh on the Gulf, yet three major asset managers still committed long-term money. Blackstone plans to open an office in Kuwait on the back of it.

The Kuwait Oil Company pipeline deal follows a path other Gulf producers already walked. Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ran similar pipeline fundraisings, pulling private capital into infrastructure while keeping control of the barrels. The $16 billion pipeline lease puts Kuwait firmly in that company.

What happens next

The transaction is governed by Kuwaiti law. It still needs customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals before the money moves. Centerview Partners, HSBC and J.P. Morgan advised KPC on the deal.

For you as a reader watching where oil money flows, the message is direct. Gulf producers now treat their pipelines as financial assets, not fixed furniture. The $16 billion pipeline lease shows how a state oil company can raise billions today while keeping its hands on the wheel. Expect more deals shaped like this one.

  • 3 min read
Buy Now Pay Later
  • Digital Payments

Buy Now Pay Later records from Tabby and Tamara will enter UAE credit reports from July 2026, changing how lenders read the finances of people who split payments into instalments, WAM announced today. Etihad Credit Bureau, the federal body that oversees credit information in the country, said the accounts of both current and new customers will be covered, along with relevant historical transactions. The move brings a fast-growing corner of consumer finance under the same reporting rules that already apply to loans, cards, and mortgages.

Buy Now Pay Later plans once sat outside the formal record. A shopper could hold several active instalments without any of them showing on a UAE credit report. That gap made it harder for banks to gauge how much a borrower owed. Now the picture becomes fuller.

Who governs the data?

The question behind this shift is not only about spending. It is about who holds the record and who answers for it. Etihad Credit Bureau sits at that centre, and its decision places two of the region’s largest fintech names, Tabby and Tamara, inside a regulated framework rather than beside it.

The Central Bank of the UAE recognised instalment schemes as a form of short-term credit in 2023. Under those rules, providers must check a borrower’s credit report once a total credit limit passes 5,000 dirhams. Late fees on these plans are capped at 30 percent of the purchase under central bank rules, and the plans carry no interest. Adding instalment data to the file makes that check sharper. Lenders and authorised entities can weigh a person’s full set of commitments before they approve more.

Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, Director General of Etihad Credit Bureau, said the Bureau wants credit reports to reflect the way consumer finance now works, with a broad view of what a person owes. His framing puts governance first. Better data, he argued, supports steadier decisions across the system.

Does BNPL affect credit score?

A common question among shoppers, does BNPL affect credit score, now has a firmer answer. Missed instalments could lower a score, while steady repayment could help build one. The UAE credit score runs from 300 to 900, and the report behind it is what lenders read to explain the number.

Hosam Arab, CEO and Co-founder of Tabby, said responsible lending starts with a clear view of a person’s money, and that customers who pay on time can now let that record count toward their wider standing. Sagar Shah, General Manager for Tamara in the UAE, tied the step to trust, saying it widens the door for more people to take part in the financial system.

What it means for the BNPL UAE market

The buy now pay later UAE market has expanded quickly as shoppers reach for interest-free instalments on everyday purchases. Bringing that activity into the credit file rewards discipline and exposes strain earlier. For new-to-credit customers, a clean instalment history can open a path toward loans and cards that once stayed out of reach.

Etihad Credit Bureau framed the addition as part of a longer effort to work with banks, fintech firms, and other data providers. The aim, in its account, is a credit system that sees more and misses less.

  • 3 min read
Load More Economy News