Industries Qatar (IQ) reported a 5 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on Monday, above analysts' forecasts, halting a sustained slide in profits.

The Middle East's second-biggest petrochemicals company by market value after Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) had posted declining profits in the five preceding quarters.

But it made a net profit of QR1.86 billion ($511 million) in the three months to September 30, Reuters calculated based on financial statements, up from QR1.77 billion in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected the company to make a quarterly profit of QR1.66 billion.

Petrochemical prices have strengthened in recent years, but worries persist over the impact of a global slowdown on industry earnings in the world's top oil exporting region.

Industries Qatar, whose other main areas of business include steel manufacture and fertiliser production, made a profit of QR4.7 billion in the nine months to September 30, down from QR6.3 billion a year earlier, it said in a statement to Doha's bourse. - Reuters