QNB Group reports QAR10.3bn net profit for first nine months of 2017
Doha, Qatar - QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its results for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, which is the highest in the history of QNB Group.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, net profit of QNB Group increased to QAR10.3bn, up by six per cent compared to last year, demonstrating QNB Group’s success in maintaining robust growth while controlling costs, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.
The group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability helped to improve the efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) to 29 per cent as at September 30, 2017, from 30.1 per cent a year ago, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region. Total assets reached QAR792bn, up by 11 per cent from September 2016, the highest ever achieved by the group. This was driven by a growth rate of 14 per cent in loans and advances which reached to QAR579bn.
QNB Group was successful in attracting new customer deposits to comply with the cap on loans to deposit ratio of 100 per cent set by Qatar Central Bank (QCB), which will be effective from end of 2017.
These deposit mobilisation efforts resulted in increased customer funding by 15 per cent to QAR574bn compared with September 2016. This led to the reduction in the group’s loan to deposit ratio to 100.8 per cent, compared with 101.3 per cent in September 2016. This clearly demonstrates the success of QNB’s strategy to diversify its funding sources.
The group was able to maintain the ratio of nonperforming loans to gross loans at 1.8 per cent, a level considered one of the lowest amongst financial institutional in the MEA region, reflecting the high quality of the group’s loan book and the effective management of credit risk. The group’s conservative policy in regard to provisioning continued with the coverage ratio reaching 111 per cent in September 2017.
QNB Group’s total assets reached QAR792bn, up by 11 per cent from September 2016, the highest ever achieved by the group