Petrochemicals and metals company Industries Qatar (IQ) posted a 40 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit on Monday, missing analysts' forecasts.

The Middle East's second-biggest petrochemicals company by market value, behind Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic), reported a net profit of QR951 million ($261.2 million) for the three months ending March 31, down from QR1.58 billion a year earlier.

Five analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast IQ would make a quarterly net profit of QR1.11 billion.-Reuters