Tribune News Network
Doha
The total assets held by Qatar’s eight listed commercial banks grew by QR29.1 billion to QR1.654 trillion in Q1 2020 from QR1.624 trillion in Q4 2019, the PwC has said.
Over the last three years, the total assets of these banks listed on Qatar Stock Exchange — Ahli Bank, CBQ, Doha Bank, Khaliji Bank, QIB, QIIB, QNB and Rayan — grew by QR305.2 billion, according to the latest issue of PwC’s Qatar Banking Industry report. The banks held QR1.348 trillion in assets as of March 31, 2017.
Similarly, customer deposits reached QR1.11 trillion as of March 31, 2020, growing 7.4 percent over the last year (vs Q1 2019). This represents a three-year CAGR of 6.5 percent (Q1 2020 vs Q1 2017) and by 2.5 percent in the last quarter (vs FY 2019) on aggregate, when considering the eight listed banks.
Mehrayar Ghazali, Financial Services Leader at PwC Middle East said: "Banks in Qatar can further mitigate risks and position themselves for emerging opportunities during this volatile period and they have seemed to already respond with appropriate measures. Further actions can be taken to navigate the crisis in the short-term and mid-term, to position themselves for the economic rebound. These actions include assessing exposure to sectors and clients that will be affected the most, investing in deeper business relationships to accelerate the economic rebound and having a clear strategy on M&A opportunities, especially monitoring banks and financial institutions in distress.’’
Burak Zatiturk, PwC Qatar Financial Services Leader said, "Financial sectors across the globe are grappling with increased spikes in volatility due to the current unprecedented economic climates we are operating in.”
"In Qatar, the banks have experienced growth in total assets and total loans and advances over the last quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020 vs FY 2019) despite the volatility during the last quarter, as demonstrated by the (consolidated) reports published by the 8 listed commercial banks,” he added.
The total profit of the eight listed commercial banks decreased by 1 percent compared to Q1 2019, reaching QR6.13 billion for the period-ended 31 March 2020 (QR6.19 billion in March 2019), but grew 15.8 percent when considering the three-year period (Q1 2020 vs Q1 2017).
Bassam Hajhamad, Qatar Country Senior Partner, said, "The current volatility is having an unprecedented impact on the financial industry in Qatar. However, the Qatari banks overall revealed resilience amid this uncertainty, as the Qatar economy is more prepared today to weather the
situation.”