The United Arab Emirates' top lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank, on Tuesday announced a modest increase in net profit for 2019, despite "challenging market conditions".

FAB said its net profit for last year rose  four percent to $3.4 billion compared to $3.27 billion in 2018.

"2019 marked another year of growth for FAB, despite challenging market conditions regionally and internationally," chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said in a statement.

FAB, which was created in 2017 by the merger of two Abu Dhabi-based lenders, saw its assets grow 10 percent last year to $224 billion making it the second largest Arab bank in terms of assets after Qatar National Bank.