DUBAI - Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the Gulf state's largest sharia-compliant lender by assets, reported a 14.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, meeting the average forecasts of three analysts, according to Reuters calculations.

The bank was the third major Qatari lender to report results during the quarter after Qatar National Bank and Masraf Al Rayan both reported earnings that fell short of estimates as provisions rose.

QIB made a net profit of 630 million riyals ($173.1 million) during the three months to Dec. 31, compared with 549.7 million riyals in the same period a year earlier, Reuters calculated from annual financial statements in the absence of a quarterly earnings breakdown.

Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average the bank to make a quarterly net profit of 591.1 million riyals. 

QIB was one of the Qatari banks hardest hit by an outflow of funding from the rest of the Gulf after a diplomatic row erupted in June between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. But for the second successive quarter, the bank's deposits climbed, reaching 101.8 billion riyals, up by 3.2 percent from the previous quarter.

($1 = 3.6400 Qatar riyals)

(Reporting By Tom Arnold; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))