Al Ahli Bank said on Thursday first-quarter profit surged 30 per cent to QR85.5 million ($23.50 million).

The bank's earnings per share for the three months ended March 31 were QR1.46 compared with QR1.12 for the same period last year, it said in a statement on the bourse Web site. It did not give a reason for the profit jump.

Its shares were up 3.55 percent at 0826 GMT, but are more than 3 percent lower this year.-Reuters