National Bank of Abu Dhabi , the emirate's largest lender by assets, on Wednesday posted a 10.7 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit as revenues dropped and impairment charges for bad loans rose.

NBAD, almost 70 per cent owned by an Abu Dhabi state investment fund, made a net profit of Dh1.27 billion ($345.8 million) in the three months ending March 31, compared to Dh1.42 billion in the year-ago period.

Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast a profit of Dh1.28 billion and Dh1.45 billion respectively.

Revenues reached Dh2.65 billion during the quarter, down from Dh2.68 billion during the year-ago period.

Impairment charges reached Dh295 million, a 73.3 per cent increase on the corresponding period of last year.

Customer loans stood at Dh199.6 billion at March 31, 0.3 per cent down from Dh200.2 billion at the same point of last year.

Customer accounts and other deposits dipped 6.6 per cent over the same time period to reach Dh233.3 billion as of end-March. – Reuters