Commercial Bank of Qatar, the Gulf state's third-largest lender by market value, reported a 22 per cent jump in fourth-quarter profit on increased lending and deposits.

It made a net profit of QR376 million ($103.3 million), up from QR309 million in the same period last year but trailed analysts' average forecasts of QR444.1 million.

The bank said it made a full-year net profit of 1.9 billion riyals and proposed a dividend of six riyals per share.

Loans and advances grew 24 per cent to QR41.6 billion, compared to QR33.6 billion at the end of 2010. Customers' deposits increased by QR4.7 billion to QR38 billion.

Net provisions for loans and advances increased to QR239 million for the year, compared with QR167 million in 2010, with net provisions in the fourth quarter in line with those of the same period in 2010.

The non-performing loan ratio fell to 1.2 per cent at a2011-end compared with 3.16 per cent in 2010.-Reuters