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DUBAI / Reuters
Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the Gulf state’s largest sharia-compliant lender by assets, met analysts’ average forecast as it reported a 2 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, according to reports.
It made a net profit of 555 million riyals ($152 million) during the three months to Dec. 31, compared with 544 million riyals in the same period a year earlier, Reuters calculated from financial statements in the absence of a quarterly earnings breakdown.
Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average the bank to make a quarterly net profit of 539.7 million riyals.
For the full year of 2016, QIB posted net profit of 2.16 billion riyals, higher than the 1.95 billion riyals it reported a year earlier, according to a bourse statement. The bank’s board proposed paying a cash dividend of 4.75 riyals per share for 2016, the statement said. The 2015 payout was 4.25 riyals per share.