(Adds CFO on outlook next year, updates shares)
PRAGUE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Komercni Banka, the Czech Republic's third-biggest lender, posted a bigger rise in third-quarter net profit than expected on Thursday, more than doubling earnings from a year ago as risk costs eased.
The bank, majority owned by France's Societe Generale , also signalled an improving outlook amid expectations of higher interest rates.
It reported attributable net profit of 3.43 billion crowns ($155.59 million) in the quarter, above a Reuters poll estimate of 3.14 billion and well above the 1.65 billion posted a year ago when the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard.
Its shares jumped more than 3% and hit their highest since April 2019 in early trading, sitting at 915 crowns at 1104 GMT.
Komercni Banka's net interest income grew slightly year-on-year in the quarter, beating expectations for a slight drop.
Overall net banking income rose 7.7% to 7.82 billion crowns and loan provisioning was down 97% as the economy recovers.
"Komercni Banka has passed an inflection point in the development of its revenues after the significant hit it took from the pandemic," Chief Executive Officer Jan Juchelka said.
The bank nudged up its full-year outlook, expecting a slight rise in revenue as central bank rate hikes start to show an impact.
Chief Financial Officer Jiri Sperl said he expected recovery to be driven by net interest income next year, but did not anticipate further growth in income from financial operations following an unusually strong performance this year.
The Czech National Bank has sharply lifted interest rates since June as it battles spiking inflation. The central bank meets on Thursday and analysts expect at least another 50 basis point hike to the current base rate of 1.50%.
The loan market should slow slightly in 2022 to around mid-single digit growth, though the bank aims to grow faster than that, Sperl said.
$1 = 22.0450 Czech crowns Reporting by Jason Hovet Editing by Kim Coghill and Mark Potter