DUBAI  - Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) reported a 16% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Monday, hurt by an increase in impairment charges.

The bank reported a net profit of 1.05 billion dirhams ($285.89 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, down from 1.24 billion dirhams a year earlier.

ADCB, which last year merged with smaller peers Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank, recommended a cash dividend of 0.38 dirhams per share.

($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)

(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((Davide.Barbuscia@thomsonreuters.com; +971522604297; Reuters Messaging: davide.barbuscia.reuters.com@reuters.net))