Dubai’s Mashreq posts 13 pct profit rise on higher lending income

Mashreq, Dubai’s third-biggest bank by assets, on Sunday posted a 13.2 percent rise in first-quarter net profit as a rise in income from lending helped to offset a slight dip in returns from fees.

It is the second bank in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai Islamic Bank, to release earnings for the quarter, with both lenders reporting double-digit profit growth.

“The banking industry and Mashreq in particular has displayed a remarkable immunity to the resultant economic turmoil in the region,” Mashreq Chief Executive Abdulaziz al-Ghurair.

The banking sector has so far managed to withstand much of the impact from lower oil prices, with evidence of a significant liquidity squeeze yet to emerge.

Mashreq made a profit of $177.3 million for the three months to March 31, it said in a statement, up from $157 million for the same period last year.

The main contributor was net interest income, which climbed 17.2 percent year on year to $219 million. Contributing to the rise was a 6.4 percent increase in loan volume and an improvement in the net interest margin, the bank said.

Net fees, commission and other income dropped by 1.1 percent to $187 million.