Dubai: Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar’s second-largest bank by market value, reported a 21.2 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Monday, beating analyst expectations and helped by lending growth.
The increase continues a broadly-positive results season for lenders in the Gulf state, following profit gains at Qatar National Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank. Doha Bank posted a 7.2 per cent fall in net profit over the same period, though.
Masraf Al Rayan’s net profit for the three months to December 31 was 548 million riyals ($150.5 million; Dh552 million) compared with 452 million riyals in the same period the year before, according to Reuters calculations.
The bank did not provide a quarterly breakdown so Reuters calculated the figure based on financial statements.
Three analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast a net profit of 535.1 million riyals.
For the full-year, financing activities reached 57.9 billion riyals, up by 39.7 per cent from the end of 2013. Customer deposits reached 62.6 billion riyals, up by 29.5 per cent over the same period.
Qatari bank earnings have been propelled in recent years by public spending related to a raft of infrastructure projects as the country prepares to host the soccer World Cup in 2022.
