Qatar National Bank QPSC : first quarter net profit rises 3.8 percent, broadly in line with estimates

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf's largest lender, reported a 3.8 percent increase in first-quarter net profit, it said on Tuesday, broadly in line with analysts' forecasts.

The bank reported a net profit of 3.56 billion riyals ($978 million) in the three months to March 31, compared with 3.43 billion riyals in the corresponding period of 2018, the bank said in a statement.

EFG Hermes expected a higher net profit of 3.71 billion riyals, while SICO Bahrain estimated a marginally lower net profit of 3.51 billion riyals.

QNB said the asset growth was helped by a 5 percent rise in loans and advances, even though the devaluation of the Turkish lira partly affected its assets and liabilities.

QNB owns Turkey's Finansbank, which it took over in 2016.

Qatar has largely shrugged off attempts by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to put pressure on its economy after they cut diplomatic and transport ties in the middle of 2017.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht; Editing by Saeed Azhar)