DUBAI, July 24 (Reuters) - Gulf Bank, Kuwait's fourth-largest lender by assets, reported a 34.4 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, as income from fees and investments edged higher.

Net profit for the three months to June 30 was 11.93 million dinars, compared to 8.88 million dinars in the year-earlier period, a bourse filing said.

Arqaam Capital had forecast Gulf Bank would make a quarterly profit of 8 million dinars.

It attributed the net profit rise to an increase in fees and commission income and investment income. Fees and commission income reached 7.96 million dinars, up from 7.55 million dinars in the same period of last year.

This helped offset a 2.3 percent year-on-year dip in net interest income to 29.37 million dinars.

For the first half of the year, the bank's net profit increased 11 percent to 20.7 million dinars, compared to 18.7 million dinars in the same period of last year.

(Reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by David French) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))