UPDATE 2-Loans, land sale drive UAE's NBAD Q1 record profit

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By Stanley Carvalho

ABU DHABI, April 27 (Reuters) - National Bank of Abu Dhabi NBAD.AD (NBAD), the second-largest United Arab Emirates lender, posted its biggest profit ever in the first quarter, spurred by income from lending and the sale of property.

Net income in the three months to March 31 surged almost 46 percent to 875 million dirhams ($238.3 million), or 0.45 dirhams per share, compared with 601.3 million dirhams, or 0.31 dirhams per share, in the year earlier period, the Abu Dhabi-state controlled lender said in a statment.

Without the property sale, profit would have risen 18.1 percent to 710 million dirhams, the bank said.

Net interest income advanced almost 44 percent to 776.68 million dirhams and net fees and commissions 21 percent to 273.48 million dirhams, the bank said.

"We remain well placed to take advantage of the huge growth opportunities in Abu Dhabi and the region," Chief Executive Officer Michael Tomalin said in the statement.

The earnings, the highest on record according to Reuters data going back to 2004 topped the forecasts of Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes and Dubai's Shuaa Capital in a Reuters survey last month.

They predicted first-quarter profit of 659 million dirhams and 699 million dirhams, respectively. [ID:nL31466795]