Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the United Arab Emirates' largest Sharia-compliant lender, posted a 16 percent increase in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday on the back of higher income from Islamic financing and investment. The bank made 1.21 billion dirhams ($329.5 million) in the three months to March 31, it said in a statement. This compares with a profit of 1.04 billion dirhams in the corresponding period of 2017.
SICO Bahrain forecast the bank would make a net profit of 1.13 billion dirhams. Earnings were lifted by a 16 percent rise in Islamic financing and investing transactions and a small dip in operating expenses to 590 million dirhams, from 592 million dirhams in the same period of last year.