Commercial Bank of Kuwait, the Gulf state's fifth largest lender by assets, reported a steep rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, as the amount of non-performing loans fell but said it still had to book hefty impairment charges.

Net profit was 800,000 dinars ($2.8 million) in the first three months of the year compared to 300,000 dinars in the same period a year ago, the bank said in a statement. Non-performing loans fell to 2.9 percent of the total compared to 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012, it said.

The bank had to book 23.9 million dinars in impairments and other provisions in the quarter, compared to 22.0 million a year ago. Its total provisions at the end of the quarter were 114.5 million dinars. – Reuters