4Q16 net profit flat Q-o-Q, down 66% Y-o-Y: RAK Bank (RAKB) reported 4Q net profit of AED109mn, flat Q-o-Q and down 66% Y-o-Y. The bank’s earnings missed our expectation of AED135mn (in-line with consensus of AED112mn) owing to weaker-than-expected revenue. Provisioning was down 10% Q-o-Q, suggesting that credit quality stress has started to ease. We will wait for financials and mgmt.’s comments on the outlook for 2017, to get a better sense of the bank’s credit quality outlook. Comments from other UAE banks suggest that while SME related issues have been brought under control, they are certain sub-segments which remain troublesome. (Company, Shabbir Malik)