DUBAI: Emirates Bank International EBIL.DU, Dubai’s largest lender by market value, expects to return to profit growth in the second quarter after four quarters of decline, its chief financial officer said on Monday. Emirates Bank earlier reported a 4.8 percent drop in first-quarter net profit to 574.6 million dirhams ($156.5 million) after its income from initial public offerings was virtually wiped out, Sanjay Uppal told Reuters. “Next quarter we should return to profit growth,” Uppal said, adding he expected growth in all business lines. “The half year will be positive and the full-year will be positive on the back of the obvious benefits from the growth of the UAE economy,” Uppal said. IPO income in the three months to March 31 was “negligible”, he said, compared with 215 million dirhams in the first quarter of 2006. Total assets fell 29.7 percent to 104 billion dirhams, he said. Assets in the first quarter of 2006 included 66 billion dirhams related to IPO lending, he said. Loans and advances in the quarter grew 12 percent to 62.9 billion dirhams, he said.—