Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest lender in the Gulf Arab region, posted a 13.7 percent increase in fourth- quarter net profit, slightly trailing analysts' expectations.

The bank, which completed the purchase of a majority stake in Societe Generale's Egyptian arm for $2 billion last March, reported a net profit of QR2.4 billion ($659 million) for the final three months of 2013, according to Reuters calculations based on company data.

This compared with QR2.11 billion in the same period of 2012. Analysts, on average, had forecast a net profit rise of 17.5 percent to QR2.48 billion.

Full-year profit for 2013 was QR9.5 billion, also up 13.7 percent on the previous year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Total assets increased by 20.9 per cent from December 2012 to reach QR443 billion ($121.8 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group. This was the result of a strong growth rate of 24.3 per cent in loans and advances to reach QR311 billion ($85.3 billion).

The Group was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.6 per cent.

At the same time QNB Group increased customer funding by 24.3 per cent to QR336 billion ($92.2 billion). This led to the Group’s loan to deposit ratio to reach 93 per cent.

QNB's board has recommended a cash dividend of QR7 per share for 2013, the statement added. This is up from the QR6 per share paid for the previous year, according to Reuters data. - TradeArabia News Service and Reuters