Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ), which is buying a majority stake in Turkey's Alternatifbank, posted a 7 per cent increase in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, beating analysts' expectations.

Net profit in the three months to the end of March was SR506 million ($139.0 million) compared to SR471 million in the same period a year ago.

Analysts had forecast an average quarterly profit of SR469 million, according to a Reuters poll. – Reuters