ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, the emirate’s largest sharia-compliant bank, posted a 20.6 percent increase in its third-quarter net profit, ahead of analyst expectations, as its earnings were boosted by higher lending.

The profit growth is in line with other banks in the UAE, who have posted strong results for the reporting period as they benefit from a positive domestic economic backdrop and improving asset quality since a downturn at the start of the decade.

ADIB, which completed in September the purchase of Barclays’ retail banking assets in the UAE, made a net profit of AED476.8 million ($129.8 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from AED395.5 million in the prior-year period, it said in a statement.

The earnings were ahead of forecasts by analysts at Beltone Financial and EFG Hermes, who expected net profit for the period of AED471 million and AED459 million respectively.

Net customer financing, how loans are described by Islamic banks, totaled AED71.6 billion at the end of September, up 16 percent from the start of the year.