Finance House, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and financing company, reported a profit of AED31.04m ($8.4m) for the first quarter of 2010, a marginal increase compared with AED30.95m for the same period last year.

Announcing the results on 20 April, Mohammed Alqubaisi, chairman Finance House, said that a major part of the company’s net profit came from its core business, investments, consumer and commercial financing. Further, he emphasised that the company continues to maintain a cautious approach towards managing its loan and investment portfolios.

The finance company curtailed its loan book by 3 per cent during 2009 to finish the year with AED1.1bn. “The current focus is on achieving improved yields without significant increase in the overall size of the lending book,” Alqubaisi annotaed.

The Finance House shareholders’ equity at the end of the first quarter stood at AED520m, after paying a 50 per cent cash dividend amounting to AED110m in March this year. Additionally, the shareholders have also approved bonus shares of 25 per cent.