QNB’s total assets have reached QR521bn, the highest ever achieved by the group

QNB has posted a nine-month net profit of QR8.7bn, up 9% on the same period in 2014. Driven by rising operating income, the profit gain demonstrates the success of the region’s largest bank in achieving strong growth across the range of revenue sources.
Net interest income increased by 5.1% to reach QR9.5bn with net fee and commission income and net gain from foreign exchange reaching QR1.7bn and QR0.6bn, respectively, reflecting success in diversifying sources of income.
QNB Group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability allowed it to maintain an efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) of 21.1%, which is considered one of the “best ratios” among financial institutions in the region.
Total assets increased by 9.6% from September 2014 to reach QR521bn, the highest ever achieved by the group. This was the result of a strong growth rate of 11.5% in loans and advances to reach QR367bn.
The group was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.5%, a level considered one of the lowest amongst banks in the Middle East and Africa, reflecting the high quality of its loan book and the effective management of credit risk.
QNB’s conservative policy in regard to provisioning continued with the coverage ratio reaching 127% in September 2015.
At the same time, QNB increased customer funding by 8.9% to QR381bn. This led to its loan to deposit ratio reaching 96%.
Total equity increased by 6.8% from September 2014 to reach QR60bn as on September 30. Earnings per share (EPS) reached QR12.5 compared to QR11.4 in September 2014.
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), calculated as per the QCB and Basel III requirements stood, at 14% as on September 30, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
The group is keen to maintain a strong capitalisation in order to support future strategic plans.
In March this year, Fitch Rating upgraded QNB Group to AA-/F1+ on the back of the strength of Qatar’s sovereign rating.
QNB has maintained its credit rating from all other rating agencies, one of the highest in the region.
This is a result of the group’s strong financial position, high quality of its assets and leading position in the financial sector.
As a result of the group’s high credit ratings and outstanding asset quality, it was selected as one of the world’s 50 safest financial institutions by ‘Global Finance’.
QNB said it is aiming to embed compliance principles within the group by promoting a culture of compliance across all areas starting from top management and cascading down to all employees. As part of these ongoing initiatives all employees have been provided with training on compliance, anti-money laundering (AML) and ‘Chinese Walls’ in order to highlight the importance of adhering to regulatory requirements and reporting any misconducts which are vital to the group’s growth strategy and assist significantly in achieving the group objective of becoming a leading MEASEA bank by 2020 and a global bank by 2030.
QNB will continue to keep regulatory compliance as a high priority item in its agenda whilst ensuring an achievement of the business targets of QNB Group and increasing QNB shareholder’s value, it said.
QNB Group is present, through its subsidiaries and associate companies, in as many as 27 countries and three continents providing a comprehensive range of products and services.
The total number of staff is more than 15,000, attached to some 635 locations. The group has a network of more than 1,350 ATMs.