ABU DHABI: First Gulf Bank (FGB), the second-largest lender by market value in the United Arab Emirates, posted a 15-percent rise in third-quarter net profit, beating analysts' forecasts.
The lender, majority-owned by Abu Dhabi's ruling family, made a net profit of 1.05 billion dirhams ($285.9 million) for the three months ending September 30, compared with 920 million dirhams in the prior-year period, it said in a statement on Monday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated an average profit of 1.02 billion dirhams for the third quarter.
Profit for the first nine months of the year grew to 3 billion dirhams. FGB made 2.7 billion dirhams in the same period of 2011.
Provisions rose 5 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 398.6 million dirhams, the bank said, up from 379.3 million dirhams last year. ($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams) (Reuters)
