United Arab Bank, or UAB, on Monday posted a 45 per cent surge in first-half net profit to Dh193 million on strong credit growth, regardless of a hike in provisioning.

Announcing what the Sharjah-based bank claimed as “the best first half-year results in its history,” the lender said it was able to grow faster than the average industry growth over the past three year by gaining market share from other banks.

Paul Trowbridge, the bank’s chief executive officer, said UAB was well positioned to meet the new UAE Central Bank requirement of keeping 10 per cent of the liability in liquid assets. “It came as no surprise. We have been working towards that goal.”

Trowbridge said the Eurozone debt crisis would have little impact on the UAE banking system. “We are not seeing any fallout as the banks here are well regulated and stable.”

He said the bank’s financial results for the first six months of the year are excellent and represent the highest net profit for the first half ever reported by the Bank. “It is a fantastic achievement, and the full benefits of the regional best practice partnership and Shareholder alliance with the Commercial Bank of Qatar are clearly evident.”

Second quarter net income increased to Dh118.3 million compared with Dh71.2 million in the year ago quarter, up a 64 per cent.

Trowbridge pointed out that despite a flat credit market scenario in the UAE, the bank’s customer loans and advances increased by 19 per cent to Dh9.6 billion from Dh8.1 billion.

Customer deposits also increased by eight per cent to Dh8.4 billion from Dh7.8 billion over the same period. But the value of loans outstripped deposits by Dh1.2 billion and total lending rising to 113.6 per cent of deposits.

UAB recorded an operating profit of Dh243 million in the first half of 2012, an increase of 44 per cent over the figure of Dh169 million for the same period of 2011.

Total operating income for the six month period reached Dh349 million, an increase of 35 per cent compared to 2011, due to an increase in net interest income of 40 per cent to Dh259 million and growth in non-interest income of 24 per cent to Dh89 million attributable to the growth in both Corporate and Retail businesses.

He argued that the bank continued to take a conservative approach to provisioning.

The provision charge for the first six months of 2012 is Dh50 million, compared to Dh36 million in 2011.“We believe this reflects the prudent and proactive approach adopted by the Bank to its management of risk and growing asset portfolio”, he said.

“UAB’s results continue to be extremely positive and are a clear indication of the progress that has been made over the past years. This is supported by the regular feedback and recognition that we receive from customers, partners and the financial community,” he said. He said the bank’s record performance is testament to its proven track record of out-performing the market with regard to its growth, whilst not compromising on its prudent approach to credit. “We continue to remain on track in our strategic growth plans and remain firm in our commitment to providing value to our traditional corporate customers, whilst also reaching new customers through our expanded branch network and product offerings,” he added.

On the bank’s expansion plans, he said it would add three more branches in 2012 and another five outlets in 2013. “We will focus our next phase of growth in Abu Dhabi. Significant investment continues to be made to improve the breadth of services available through various alternative delivery channels.”