Ajman Bank Ajman Bank Home Finance (Ijarah Muntahia Bittamleek)

Ajman Bank PJSC was licensed in 2008 as the first Islamic bank headquartered in the emirate of Ajman, with the Ajman ruling family's backing, and listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Its audited financial statements define the mandate cleanly: banking, financing and investing exclusively through Murabaha, Ijarah, Mudaraba, Musharaka, Wakala and Sukuk under Islamic Shariah. FY2025 delivered the strongest results in its history: net profit before tax of AED 548.4 million (up 25% on 2024's own record), total assets of AED 32.9 billion (up 44% from 22.9 billion), ROE of 15.2%, cost-to-income down 431 bps to 45.9%, and NPLs improved 288 bps to 7.03%. The year's landmark was the inaugural USD 500 million sukuk: 5-year paper at 5.125% (130 bps over US Treasuries), an order book above USD 2.7 billion, and listings on Nasdaq Dubai and the LSE's International Securities Market.

The deposit shelf runs from a Mudarabah savings account (rates declared, not published) to the Wakala Deposit at AED 100,000+ across 1-36 month tenors, whose Upfront Profit variant is the shelf's signature: the entire term's expected profit lands in your account at booking for 6/12/24-month placements, subject to clawback if the pool underperforms, a structure disclosed candidly in the KFS. Auto finance is a six-tier Murabaha program (standard from AED 5,000 salary, Ajman government from 4,000 with fees waived, self-employed, exotic to AED 2 million, 50-50 low-doc, and secured against 110% cash collateral) with processing capped at AED 2,500. Home finance is Ijarah Muntahia Bittamleek to AED 10-15 million over 25 years, with Forward Ijarah for Emirati off-plan buyers at 50% down and the 2nd-rank program for government-housing beneficiaries, priced variably (KFS example: 3M EIBOR + 2.75%, floor 3.59%).

Governance is the bank's quiet flagship. The ISSC (Prof. Dr. Jassim Ali Salem Al Shamsi chairing, with Dr. Ibrahim Al Mansoori and Dr. Yasser Al Hosani) meets at least six times a year, reports to the General Assembly, and its full FY2025 annual Shariah report is published on the website bearing CBUAE Higher Shariah Authority approval, a document most UAE banks bury in annual reports if they publish it at all. A dedicated Internal Shariah Control Department under Dr. Fazal Rahim serves as the executive layer. The same chairman chairs Al Hilal Bank's ISSC and sits on the CBUAE's own Higher Shariah Authority, placing Ajman Bank inside the UAE's senior scholar network.

Assessment: Ajman Bank is a niche-product specialist wearing a growth story. The 44% asset expansion and oversubscribed sukuk signal a bank scaling fast off a small base, and its product engineering (upfront Wakala profit, 2nd-rank mortgages, exotic car tiers) shows genuine imagination. Against that, the refusal to publish a single financing or deposit rate makes comparison shopping impossible without engaging the bank, the home finance fee stack is heavy, and the 7% NPL ratio, while improving, reflects the legacy book. Customers matching its niches are served better here than anywhere; generic customers should force quotes against SIB's published numbers.