Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has been named “Islamic Bank of the Year” in the Middle East for the second year in a row by The Banker magazine during its annual Islamic banking awards.
This year also marks the fourth consecutive year that QIB was selected as Qatar’s “Islamic Bank of the Year” by The Banker, the world’s longest-running international banking title and the leading monthly title of the Financial Times Group.
Established in 1926, The Banker is read by senior decision makers at the world’s foremost financial institutions. Each year, The Banker produces a definitive ranking of the industry’s best Islamic financial institutions in order to promote and reward excellence in the global Islamic banking community.
“We are pleased to have been named the ‘Islamic Bank of the Year’ in both Qatar and the Middle East again this year”, said Bassel Gamal, QIB Group CEO.
“These awards are the result of the vision of our board of directors and of the hard work put in by QIB’s employees. Thanks to their dedication and professionalism and the loyalty of the bank’s customers and the continuous support of the board, QIB has become a leader among the region’s Islamic financial institutions.”
In a special report, The Banker explained that QIB was chosen as its Middle East and Qatari Bank of the Year for its “remarkable growth” in 2015 and its recent involvement in a number of high-profile syndicated deals in the Mena region.
According to the magazine, “The judges were impressed by QIB’s corporate banking growth, as well as the bank’s financial institutions division growth, driven by a greater level of involvement in several bilateral and syndicated financing transactions to regional and international banks”. As “a leader in the local retail banking market,” QIB said the bank continues to increase its market shares in individuals’ financing and deposits.
QIB continues to experience steady growth across a broad range of key performance indicators. In 2015, the bank’s total income rose 24% to reach QR4.51bn and its net profits grew by 22%, closing the year at QR1.95bn.
During the same time period, QIB’s total assets increased by 32%, with customer deposits rising 37% and financing activities growing 46%.
The total assets of the bank stand at QR127bn, of which, QR92bn consist of customer deposits. QIB said the results were driven by “robust growth” in financing activities, which reached QR87bn by end of 2015, QR28bn higher than in 2014. The bank currently commands a 41% share of the Islamic sector in Qatar and 11% of the overall domestic banking sector.
“Winning ‘Middle East Islamic Bank of the Year’ shows how important Qatar’s Islamic financial sector has become in the Mena region”, said Gamal.
He added: “In the past few years, QIB has played a leading role in some of the Middle East’s biggest and most exciting financial transactions.
We are pleased to be a major player in the region’s Islamic banking market and to help elevate the profile of this influential sector of the financial industry.”
QIB was recently recognised by Euromoney as the “Best Bank in Qatar” for the first time. In April, Gamal was ranked first among 100 best-performing CEOs of listed companies in the GCC states at the Trends/Insead 2016 Top CEO awards. QIB was also named “Best Islamic Retail Bank” in the world and “Best Islamic Bank” in Qatar by Global Finance.