FAB appoints new group chief executive and expands its board

The bank’s current group chief executive Abdulhamid Saeed will join the lender's board

First Abu Dhabi Bank has mutually agreed with Lebanon’s Bank Audi to stop the transaction process on the acquisition of its fully owned subsidiary in Egypt.. Chris Whiteoak / The National

First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE’s biggest lender by assets, appointed André Sayegh as its new group chief executive and is expanding its board.

The bank’s current group chief executive Abdulhamid Saeed, is set to join the board, FAB said in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.

"In less than three years, FAB has emerged as a key driver of Abu Dhabi's economic vision and an important growth engine in the markets where we operate," said Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“Abdulhamid Saeed was the driving force behind this achievement, and under his leadership, FAB has grown into the UAE’s largest bank with total assets of Dh822 billion ($224bn) as of December-end 2019. Having created and led one of the region’s largest banking institutions since its inception, Abdulhamid Saeed will now take a seat on the board of directors.”

Mr Sayegh serves as the current deputy group chief executive and group head of corporate and investment banking at FAB. Prior to this role, he was the group chief executive of FGB – the bank that was merged with National Bank of Abu Dhabi to create FAB in 2017.

FAB's board is being expanded to 11 members, from nine currently - each of whom will serve a three-year term. The lender’s shareholders also approved a cash dividend of 74 fils per share, implying total cash dividends of Dh8.08bn for 2019.

Last month, FAB reported a 4 per cent increase in profit for 2019 of Dh12.5bn as operating profit rose by the same amount to Dh20.2bn.

FAB is also looking to grow within various markets in the region. In February, it confirmed that it is in talks with Lebanon’s Bank Audi to acquire its fully-owned subsidiary in Egypt.

The Lebanese lender's Egyptian unit has total assets of $4.4bn (Dh16.1bn) and an acquisition would be in line with FAB’s strategy to boost growth. The lender is currently expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia, having recently opened its third branch in Jeddah.