Dubai: Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, posted an 8.9 per cent increase in its first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, beating analysts’ forecasts, as fee income swelled. The bank made a profit of 43.3 million riyals ($112.5 million; Dh411.63 million) in the period ending March 31, compared to 39.8 million riyals a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement. Three analysts polled by Reuters, on average, forecast a first-quarter profit of 38.4 million riyals. The profit increase boosted Bank Muscat’s shares, which closed 0.4 per cent higher against a decline of the same amount in the wider Oman bourse. Higher operating income, driven by stronger-than-forecast fee income, was a key reason for the profit jump, said NBK Capital in a research note.