Commercial Bank of Qatar, the country's second-largest lender by assets, posted a 17.3 per cent rise in second-quarter profit on Tuesday, beating analysts' forecasts.

The bank earned a net profit of SR589 million ($161.8 million) for the three months to June 30, it said in a statement.

The bank did not provide a net profit figure for the same period of last year. It reported earnings of SR489.8 million in the year-earlier period, according to Thomson Reuters data, although this would not equate to the percentage increase given by CBQ in Tuesday's statement.

Seven analysts had forecast an average quarterly profit of SR495.2 million, according to a Reuters poll. - Reuters