DOHA: Qatar Islamic Bank’s (QIB) net profit attributable to the shareholders of amounted to QR492m for the first quarter of 2016, up 23 percent from a year ago. Total assets of the bank has increased by 3 percent compared to December 2015 and now stands at QR131bn driven by a continued growth in the financing activities.
Financing activities have now reached QR91bn having added QR4bn representing 4 percent increase compared to December 2015. Customer Deposits of the Bank now stand at QR 89bn and Total Shareholders’ Equity of the bank has reached QR13bn.
Total income for the three month period ended 31 March 2016 has reached QR1.28bn compared to QR950m by end of March 2015. Income from financing and investing activities reached QR1.1bn at the end of March 2016 compared to QR817m for the three month period ended March 2015. Net fee and commission income reached QR133m at the end of March 2016 compared to QR100m for the three month period ended March 2015.
QIB was able to further improve the ratio of non-performing financing portfolio to gross financing portfolio to less than 1 percent, one of the lowest in the industry, reflecting the quality of the Bank’s financing assets portfolio and its effective risk management framework. The Bank continued to pursue the conservative impairment policy with an improved coverage ratio for non-performing financing portfolio at 112 percent as of March 2016.
International ratings agency Capital Intelligence has in April 2016 reaffirmed QIB’s Financial Strength Rating of ‘A’ with a stable outlook in view of very good asset quality, strong capital ratios and improved coverage ratio. Fitch, in 2015 has upgraded QIB’s Long Term IDR to ‘A+’ from the previously held ‘A’ with a stable outlook. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has retained QIB’s Counterparty Credit Rating at ‘A-’ with a stable outlook. In light of QIB’s positive performance, the bank has been recognised by highly influential international financial publications and reports as one of the leading regional Banks in 2016. One of QIB’s latest commendations goes to its Group CEO, Bassel Gamal, who was ranked the first of 100 best-performing CEOs of listed companies in the GCC states from TRENDS & INSEAD Business School. QIB has also won other substantial awards such as: Bank of the Year 2015 in Qatar by the Banker Magazine, and has been recognised by the Islamic Finance News (IFN) for being the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Qatar’ and for the ‘Best Deal of the Year – Regulatory Capital’ in relation to its QR2bn Sukuk deal.
