Emirates Islamic, a leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has registered a net profit of Dh45 million ($12.2 million) for the first quarter of the year amid a tempered market situation.

Announcing the results, the UAE lender said its total income (net of customers’ share of profit) surged 15 per cent to Dh607 million ($165 million) from a base of Dh526 million ($143 million) for the same period the previous year.

On the performance, CEO Jamal Bin Ghalaita said: "Emirates Islamic’s results in the first quarter of this year reflect our strength and leadership amid a tempered market situation. In 2016, we have continued on our journey to provide the best in Islamic banking products and services to our retail and corporate customers."

"This successful strategy is reflected in our performance with an increase in customer deposits, assets and core income during the first three months of 2016. Having said that, we have taken a conservative but prudent approach to provisioning amidst prevailing economic conditions," he noted.

Bin Ghalaita said: "At Emirates Islamic, we remain committed to our core values of ‘Innovation’ and ‘Customer First’ and will continue to strengthen our product and service proposition. We strongly believe that the UAE, with its truly diversified economy, will remain resilient to global market conditions and am optimistic that Emirates Islamic will continue to grow organically and increase its customer base in 2016."

"As Islamic banking gains wider acceptance globally, we aim to lead its growth and in fulfilling Dubai’s ambition to become the global capital of Islamic economy," he added.

Emirates Islamic was recently named Best Retail Bank – UAE, Best Commercial Bank – UAE and Best Wealth Management – ME at CPI Financial’s Islamic Business & Finance Awards.-TradeArabia News Service