FGB’s CEO Andre Sayegh dismissed as exaggeration press reports stating that there would be between 2,000 to 2,500 job cuts because of the merger with NBAD. He further said that the banks don’t know yet how many jobs will be cut, and said that the press reports are speculative. Meanwhile NBAD’s shareholders approved the doubling of the size of its EMTN programme to USD15bn, ahead of the merger which is expected to be completed by the end of 1Q17. 

FGB (AD): AED13.65 as of 28 Feb., Rating: Neutral, TP: AED14.10, MCap: USD16,737mn, FGB UH/FGB.AD

NBAD (AD)   : AED10.50 as of 28 Feb., Rating: Neutral, TP: AED10.90, MCap: USD14,906mn, NBAD UH/NBAD.AD