Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) reported a 41 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit helped by higher revenue from its core business, beating analysts' forecasts.

Banks in the UAE are reaping the benefits of a recovering economy, helped mainly by an upturn in the real estate sector together with reduced debt worries at some state-linked entities.

ADIB, Abu Dhabi's biggest sharia-compliant bank by market value, made a net profit of 343 million dirhams ($93.4 million) in the fourth quarter compared with 242.8 million dirhams in the same period in 2012, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Three analysts polled by Reuters this month forecast an average net profit of 316.33 million dirhams.

The bank's net profit for the whole of 2013 grew 21 per cent to 1.45 billion dirhams, the statement said.

Credit provisions were slightly lower in the fourth quarter at 221 million dirhams, versus 227 million dirhams the year before.

"The performance reflects the sustainable strength of our core banking business in that it did not rely on reversing non-performing accounts or reducing provisions," said Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive of the bank, which also has property and brokerage businesses.

Revenues grew 18 percent in fourth quarter to 1.04 billion dirhams. Loans were up 21 percent, totalling 61.7 billion dirhams, while deposits jumped 23 percent to reach 75.5 billion dirhams.

The bank plans to pay a cash dividend of 31 fils per share. - Reuters