UPDATE 1-Dubai's Mashreq posts $33 mln Q4 net loss

DUBAI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Mashreq Bank, Dubai's largest lender by market value, made a net loss of 120 million dirhams ($33 million) in the fourth quarter as it raised provisions for asset impairments.

The bank posted a full-year net profit of 1 billion dirhams in 2009, Mashreq said in statement, compared with a net profit of 1.73 billion dirhams in 2008.

Mashreqbank did not give quarterly figures, which Reuters calculated based on previous statements.

The lender said it had made 2.1 billion dirhams worth of 'allowances for impairment' in 2009, following its 'aggressive risk recognition and provisioning policy'.

'(The year) 2009 was in many ways a challenging year for the financial services industry, and I am pleased to enter 2010 with our growth plans intact,' Chief Executive Abdul-Aziz al-Ghurair said in the statement.

The bank's board of directors has recommended a cash dividend of 15 percent and a stock dividend of 5 percent for 2009, the statement said.

Mashreq Bank's nine-month profit stood at 1.12 billion dirhams, while provisions against bad loans for the same period amounted to 1.4 billion dirhams.

(Reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky, editing by Will WatermanW)

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