Kuwait Finance House Q1 net profit up 14.6 pct, short of estimates

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the country's biggest Islamic lender, reported a 14.6 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, but still fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Net profit rose to $99.0 million in the three months to the end of March from $89.3 mln in the same period a year ago, the lender said in a statement.

Four analysts polled by Reuters forecast, on average, first-quarter profit of $120 mln.

The bank also said its Turkish subsidiary would begin operations in Germany, headquartered in Frankfurt, in the middle of 2015, with a starting capital of $158 mln.

The bank previously had a limited branch in the German city of Manheim, but gained a license to establish a fully integrated Islamic bank.