UPDATE 2-Loans, land sale drive UAE's NBAD Q1 record profit

(Adds details, background)

By Stanley Carvalho

ABU DHABI, April 27 (Reuters) - National Bank of Abu Dhabi NBAD.AD (NBAD), the second-largest United Arab Emirates lender, posted its biggest profit ever in the first quarter, spurred by income from lending and the sale of property.

Net income in the three months to March 31 surged almost 46 percent to 875 million dirhams ($238.3 million), or 0.45 dirhams per share, compared with 601.3 million dirhams, or 0.31 dirhams per share, in the year earlier period, the Abu Dhabi-state controlled lender said in a statment.

Without the property sale, profit would have risen 18.1 percent to 710 million dirhams, the bank said.

Net interest income advanced almost 44 percent to 776.68 million dirhams and net fees and commissions 21 percent to 273.48 million dirhams, the bank said.

"We remain well placed to take advantage of the huge growth opportunities in Abu Dhabi and the region," Chief Executive Officer Michael Tomalin said in the statement.

The earnings, the highest on record according to Reuters data going back to 2004 topped the forecasts of Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes and Dubai's Shuaa Capital in a Reuters survey last month.

They predicted first-quarter profit of 659 million dirhams and 699 million dirhams, respectively. [ID:nL31466795]

GROWTH PHASE

The UAE economy, the second-largest in the Arab world, has been surging on a near six-fold increase in oil prices during the last six years as government and businesses invest especially in real estate, tourism and industry.

Abu Dhabi's main stock .ADI -- which crashed in 2006 -- has soared since the first quarter of last year, when it was trading around 3,000 points. It traded about 56 percent higher, or around 4,700 points, in the first quarter this year, according to Reuters data.

"It must be stated that Abu Dhabi economy is going through a strong growth phase and it needs financing," Tomalin told Reuters after the results were released. "Banks here have to finance Abu Dhabi's growth and we are making our contribution not just to Abu Dhabi but to the UAE and outside as well."

Loans and advances jumped 51 percent to 93 billion dirhams, though the growth is not sustainable, said Tomalin, who is targeting earnings growth of about 20 percent this year.

The bank made a 165 million dirham gain on the sale of land in the UAE, the lender said.

Shares of NBAD are up more than 8 percent this year, compared with a rise of more than 10 percent for the main index.

Goldman Sachs this month started coverage of nine UAE lenders, putting a "neutral" recommendation on NBAD stock and a price target of 27.54 dirhams. [ID:nBNG157270]

The stock last traded at 20.65 dirhams. (Writing by James Cordahi and Daliah Merzaban; Editing by David Holmes)