Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest lender in the Gulf Arab region, achieved a 6.1 percent increase in third-quarter net profit, beating analysts' forecasts, a Reuters calculation showed on Wednesday. The bank made a net 3.11 billion riyals ($854 million) in the three months to September 30, up from 2.93 billion riyals a year before, according to Reuters calculations. The bank did not provide a quarterly breakdown in its earnings statement. Four analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast QNB would make a quarterly net profit of 2.94 billion riyals.

For the first nine months of the year, net profit was 8.70 billion riyals, up 9 percent from the same period of 2014, the bank said in a statement. QNB, aiming to become the largest bank in the Middle East and Africa by 2017, said loans and advances rose 11.5 percent in the first nine months from a year earlier to 367 billion riyals. Lending growth in Qatar is a significant driver of banking profits, propelled by large government spending on infrastructure ahead of the state's hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Bank credit growth in Qatar accelerated to an annual 15.0 percent in August, the fastest rate since February 2014, central bank data showed earlier this month. Deposits at the lender, which is 50 percent owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, grew 8.9 percent year-on-year to 381 billion riyals at the end of September.

The bank, which holds a 23.5 percent stake in pan-African lender Ecobank Transnational Inc, has been seeking to extend its international presence in recent years.