Troubled Islamic mortgage lender Amlak posted a wider second quarter net loss as income from its core business fell and impairments more than doubled, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Dubai lender made a net loss of 52.2 million dirhams  ($14.21 million)for the quarter, compared with a loss of 597,000 dirhams in the comparable period one year earlier.

Income from its core Islamic financing and investing assets business dropped 17.2 percent to 130.8 million dirhams from 158 million a year ago. Impairments surged to 61.2 million dirhams from 29.7 million in the second quarter of 2010, Amlak said.

The UAE government suspended trading of Amlak along with rival Tamweel in November 2008 amid a liquidity crunch and announced intentions to merge the two Islamic lenders. That plan was effectively scrapped after the Dubai Islamic Bank raised its stake in Tamweel to 57.33 percent, effectively rendering the mortgage lender a subsidiary of the bank.     

Tamweel reported second-quarter net profit of 27.7 million dirhams ($7.54 million) compared with 5.4 million dirhams for the year-ago period.  - Reuters