Commercial Bank of Qatar beats estimates with Q2 profit | Reuters

Commercial Bank of Qatar beats estimates with Q2 profit | Reuters:

Commercial Bank of Qatar , the Gulf Arab state’s third-largest lender by assets, beat estimates with a five-fold increase in second-quarter net profit on Thursday as provisions for bad loans fell by more than half.

Net profit for the three months to June 30 jumped to 450.4 million riyals ($123.7 million) from 88.4 million riyals a year earlier and topped the 409.0 million expected by three analysts polled by Reuters.

The results mark a fourth consecutive quarter of profit jumps for the bank, which until last year was setting aside additional provisions to cover bad debt linked to troubles facing some of its overseas investments, as well as cutbacks in state and consumer spending in Qatar.