QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its results for the three months ended 31 March 2018.
For the three months ended 31 March 2018, Net Profit reached QAR3.4 billion (USD0.9 billion), up by 7% compared to previous year. Total assets increased by 12% from March 2017 to reach QAR834 billion (USD229 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group.
Key driver of growth in total assets was from loans and advances which grew by 12% to reach QAR598 billion (USD164 billion). Also QNB Group was successful in attracting funding, which resulted in increased customer funding by 12% to reach QAR604 billion (USD166 billion). This enabled the Group to maintain its loans to deposits ratio at 99%.
The Group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability helped to improve the efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) to 27.8%, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region.
The stock of non-performing loans ratio of 1.8% as at 31 March 2018 has been witnessed on a consistent basis, year on year, 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 maintained at 110% as at 31 March 2018.
Total Equity increased by 2% from March 2017 to reach QAR73 billion (USD20 billion) as at 31 March 2018. Earnings per Share reached QAR3.6 (USD1.0), compared to QAR3.3 (USD0.9) in March 2017.
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) calculated as per the QCB and Basel III requirements stood at 16.0% as at 31 March 2018, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
As part of QNB Group’s continued drive to enhance its status as a global financial institution, the Board of Directors have recommended to the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting of shareholders (to be held on 17 April 2018), to approve the increase of non-Qatari ownership limit from 25% to 49% as well as increasing single ownership limit to be increased from 2% to 5%, in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.
QNB’s successful funding from the international markets during the first three months of 2018 which mainly included capital market issuances of AUD700 million with a 5 and 10-year maturity in Australia, USD720 million Formosa bonds in Taiwan, private placements totalling USD2.5 billion with two – three year maturity and a three year senior unsecured syndicated term loan facility of USD3.5 billion in February 2018.
QNB Group serves a customer base of more than 22 million customers with more than 28,000 staff resources operating from 1,200 locations and a network comprising more than 4,300 ATMs.