DUBAI: National Bank of Kuwait has reported a 15.6 percent drop in third-quarter net profit.

The bank made a net profit of 59.1 million dinars ($204.7 million) in the three months to the end of September, down from 70.1 million dinars a year ago, a bourse filing said.

An 8.3 percent rise in third-quarter operating profit suggests provisions — or money set aside to cover potential bad loans — may have hit earnings.

“NBK’s conservative management practices and its strong financial position helped the bank sustain its profitability and resilient market position,” Nasser Al-Sayer, chairman of NBK, said in the statement.

The decline in third-quarter net profit came despite the bank posting a 7.8 percent increase in its operating revenue versus the same quarter of 2013.

Aiding this increase was a 10.2 percent year-on-year gain in total loans and advances, which stood at 11.6 billion dinars on September 30.

Deposits rose 7.5 percent to 10.8 billion dinars over the same time period.

NBK’s fourth-quarter net profit is expected to be boosted significantly after it sold a 30 percent stake in International Bank of Qatar at the beginning of October.

It said it would book a gain of 25 million dinars on the transaction.