Dubai - Mubasher: Emirates NBD, the UAE’s largest lender, delivered a solid set of financial results with net profit up 8% to AED 5.4 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal year 2016, according to a press release on Monday.

The operating performance improved due to higher recoveries and a modest increase in total income driven by an increase in core fee income and asset growth, which offset a contraction in margins.

Total Income reached AED 11.3 billion, higher 1% compared to the year-ago figure as net interest income grew 1% on the back of asset growth and core fee income also grew 2% due to growth in credit card and foreign exchange volumes.

Cost of risk continues to stabilize as AED 2.184 million impairment charge is 22% lower than Q3-15helped by over AED 2 billion of write-backs and recoveries.

 “The operating performance improved for the first nine months of 2016, thanks largely to lower impairment allowances backed by higher recoveries. The Group’s liquidity position improved further, bolstered by a stable and highly diversified deposit base and our ability to raise over AED 19 billion of term funding in the first nine months of 2016. Given the challenging environment ahead, we have taken measures to contain costs even as we improved asset quality and capital ratios.", said Group Chief Financial Officer, Surya Subramanian said.