UAE's biggest bank FAB posts 19% drop in Q3 net profit

First Abu Dhabi Bank head office situated at Khalifa Business Park in Abu Dhabi. Image used for illustrative purpose.
First Abu Dhabi Bank/ Handout via Thomson Reuters ZawyaDUBAI- First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, reported a 19% fall in quarterly profit on Monday, dragged down by a double-digit drop in net interest income and higher impairment charges.
Third-quarter net profit was 2.506 billion dirhams ($682 million), versus 3.11 billion dirhams a year earlier.
CI Capital expected FAB to post a net profit of 2.5 billion dirhams, while EFG Hermes had a forecast of 2.2 billion dirhams.
Impairment charges in the quarter were 504 million dirhams, up 7% from a year earlier.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))