+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
Doha
Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, on Tuesday announced that its annual net profit for 2020 reached QR12 billion ($3.3 billion), a decrease of 16 percent compared to the previous year.
The Group’s operating income increased by 1 percent compared to last year despite the impact of COVID-19 and the decline in oil prices.
This reflects QNB Group’s success in maintaining growth across the range of revenue sources, the bank said in a statement.
Considering the long-term financial impacts of COVID-19, QNB Group decided to set aside an additional QR5.8 billion in respect of loan loss provisions as a precautionary measure, which affected the net profit for the year.
For the first time in the history of the region, QNB became the first banking institution to record total assets of QR1 trillion ($282 billion), representing an increase of 9 percent from last year. QNB’s disciplined approach towards the execution of its long-term strategy enabled the Group to achieve the QR1 trillion total asset milestone after 56 years of successful operation since its inception.
The board of directors has recommended to the General Assembly the distribution of a cash dividend of 45 percent of the nominal share value that equals to QR0.45 per share. The financial results for 2020 along with the profit distribution are subject to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) approval.
The growth in total assets was mainly driven by strong growth in loans and advances by 7 percent to reach QR724 billion ($199 billion). On the funding side, QNB diversified its customer deposits generation which helped to increase deposits by 8 percent, to reach QR739 billion ($203 billion) from December 31, 2019.
During the year, QNB Group renewed its drive for cost rationalisation in addition to sustainable revenue-generating sources. This has helped QNB Group to materially improve the efficiency (the cost to income) ratio from 25.9 percent to 24.3 percent which is considered one of the best ratios among the large financial institutions in the MEA region.
QNB strengthened its asset and liability management capabilities helping to reduce its loans to deposits ratio from 99.2 percent to 98 percent as at December 31, 2020, mainly due to conservative credit underwriting during the year and more focus on deposit generation given the current low interest rate
environment.
The ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans amounted to 2.1 percent as of December 31, 2020, one of the lowest amongst financial institutions 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 for potential loan losses resulted in the coverage ratio improving to 107 percent as of December 31, 2020.
Total equity increased by 2 percent to reach QR97 billion ($27 billion) as at December 31, 2020. Earnings per share reached QR1.19 ($0.33), compared to QR1.45 ($0.40) in December 2019. At December 31, 2020, QNB Group reported robust levels of capital measured in terms of the Capital Adequacy Ratio at 19.1 percent, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
QNB Group serves a customer base of approximately 20 million customers supported by 28,000 staff resources operating from 1,000 locations and more than 4,300 ATMs.QNB Group becomes first bank in the Middle East region to record total assets of QR1 trillion
Doha
Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, on Tuesday announced that its annual net profit for 2020 reached QR12 billion ($3.3 billion), a decrease of 16 percent compared to the previous year.
The Group’s operating income increased by 1 percent compared to last year despite the impact of COVID-19 and the decline in oil prices.
This reflects QNB Group’s success in maintaining growth across the range of revenue sources, the bank said in a statement.
Considering the long-term financial impacts of COVID-19, QNB Group decided to set aside an additional QR5.8 billion in respect of loan loss provisions as a precautionary measure, which affected the net profit for the year.
For the first time in the history of the region, QNB became the first banking institution to record total assets of QR1 trillion ($282 billion), representing an increase of 9 percent from last year. QNB’s disciplined approach towards the execution of its long-term strategy enabled the Group to achieve the QR1 trillion total asset milestone after 56 years of successful operation since its inception.
The board of directors has recommended to the General Assembly the distribution of a cash dividend of 45 percent of the nominal share value that equals to QR0.45 per share. The financial results for 2020 along with the profit distribution are subject to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) approval.
The growth in total assets was mainly driven by strong growth in loans and advances by 7 percent to reach QR724 billion ($199 billion). On the funding side, QNB diversified its customer deposits generation which helped to increase deposits by 8 percent, to reach QR739 billion ($203 billion) from December 31, 2019.
During the year, QNB Group renewed its drive for cost rationalisation in addition to sustainable revenue-generating sources. This has helped QNB Group to materially improve the efficiency (the cost to income) ratio from 25.9 percent to 24.3 percent which is considered one of the best ratios among the large financial institutions in the MEA region.
QNB strengthened its asset and liability management capabilities helping to reduce its loans to deposits ratio from 99.2 percent to 98 percent as at December 31, 2020, mainly due to conservative credit underwriting during the year and more focus on deposit generation given the current low interest rate
environment.
The ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans amounted to 2.1 percent as of December 31, 2020, one of the lowest amongst financial institutions 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 for potential loan losses resulted in the coverage ratio improving to 107 percent as of December 31, 2020.
Total equity increased by 2 percent to reach QR97 billion ($27 billion) as at December 31, 2020. Earnings per share reached QR1.19 ($0.33), compared to QR1.45 ($0.40) in December 2019. At December 31, 2020, QNB Group reported robust levels of capital measured in terms of the Capital Adequacy Ratio at 19.1 percent, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
QNB Group serves a customer base of approximately 20 million customers supported by 28,000 staff resources operating from 1,000 locations and more than 4,300 ATMs.QNB Group becomes first bank in the Middle East region to record total assets of QR1 trillion
