Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has won two Banker Middle East Industry awards for 2015, organised by the Dubai-based financial media company CPI Financial.

The Abu Dhabi-listed bank won the Best Business Bank 2015, an award that recognises the best bank in the area of commercial banking, as well as the Best SME Bank in the UAE in 2015, which honours the top institution that meets the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country, according to CPI Financial.

Over 200 nominees competed this year, mainly from the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon.

Abdulla Al-Otaiba, senior managing director and group head of global retail and commercial banking at NBAD said: “SMEs form the heart of our commercial customer base and we are supporting them in innovative ways. We see them as an indispensable pillar of economic change and diversification.”

He added that the Banker Middle East Industry Awards are considered one of the longest-standing awards that offer banks independent recognition from customers and industry experts alike.

NBAD recently reported a net profit increase to AED 1.423 billion ($0.38735 billion) for the first quarter of 2014, a rise of 1% year-on-year from AED 1.41 billion ($0.38381 billion) and 3.7% quarter-on-quarter.