DUBAI: Abu Dhabi's Union National Bank (UNB) reported a 9.7 per cent rise in quarterly profit yesterday, beating analysts' expectations, thanks to a steep decline in provisions and higher net interest income.

The lender said it had net profit of 459.6 million dirhams ($125.1m) in the second quarter to June 30, up from 418.9m dirhams in the prior-year period. The bank's net attributable profit for the quarter was also up 9.7pc to 455.7m dirhams.

Lower provisioning helped improve second-quarter profits with impairments down 20.5pc to 120.1m dirhams versus 151m dirhams a year ago.

First-half net profit stood at 934.4m dirhams, up 6.3pc on the 878.7m dirhams made in 2011.

Loans and advances at the end of June stood at 57.3bn dirhams, down 0.5pc from December 31, 2011. Customer deposits also declined by the same amount from Dec. 31. UNB held 60bn dirhams at the end of June.