DUBAI: National Commercial Bank missed analysts’ forecasts on Sunday by reporting a 1.6 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit, as Saudi Arabia’s largest listed lender provided more evidence that a weaker economy is hurting the banking sector. The bank made a net profit of 1.96 billion riyals (Dh1.92 billion; $523 million) in the three months to September 30, down from 1.99 billion riyals in the same period of 2015, it said in a bourse filing. NCB blamed its third-quarter performance on an 18.7 per cent rise in operating expenses, caused by higher impairment charges on financing and investments. It did not elaborate. Quarterly operating income rose 9.5 per cent to 4.7 billion riyals because of an increase in special commission income and higher income from investments. (Reuters)