CAIRO - National Societe Generale Bank, Egypt's fourth-biggest bank by assets, posted a 20 percent drop in third-quarter net profit citing a slowdown in the market and a one-off boost a year ago.

NSGB Chairman Mohamed El-Dib said the results, which beat analysts' forecasts, put the bank in a good position to benefit from economic recovery in 2010, but warned of a decline in the creditworthiness of some customers.

The bank, more than 70 percent owned by France's Societe Generale, said net profit fell to 224 million Egyptian pounds ($41 million), beating the 214.9 million pounds average forecast of four analysts polled by Reuters.

The bank said profit fell from the third quarter of 2008 "as a result of one-off positive impacts in Q3 2008 and of the slowdown of the whole market." It did not give a comparative third-quarter figure for 2008.

"In a continued environment of slowdown, NSGB is focusing on increasing its market share, controlling risk and covering more geographical areas," El-Dib said in a statement.

Still, the bank said any recovery might be balanced out by a decline in the credit worthiness of some customers.

"The impact of the crisis on the commercial operations of some companies and the deterioration of their credit worthiness could lead to a progressive increase in the cost of risk in the coming quarters," it said.

"On the other hand, this could be compensated by positive signals in recovery which should positively impact Q4 2009."