QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its strong results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Net Profit for the six months ended 30 June 2021 reached QAR6.8 billion (USD1.9 billion), an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year. Total Assets reached QAR1,065 billion (USD293 billion), an increase of 10% from June 2020. QNB Group successfully delivered a strong Operating Income of QAR13.6 billion (USD3.7 billion) for the first half of 2021, an increase of 6% from June 2020. This helped to increase the overall profitability for the Group.
Loans and Advances grew by 6% to reach QAR747 billion (USD205 billion) being the main driver of growth in Total Assets. On the funding side, QNB diversified its customer deposits generation that helped increase its deposit base to QAR767 billion (USD211 billion).
QNB Group continued its drive for cost rationalisation in addition to sustainable revenue generating sources. This continues to help QNB Group to improve the efficiency (cost to income) ratio to 22.9% as at 30 June 2021 which is considered one of the best ratios among the large financial institutions in the MEA region.
During first half of 2021, QNB Group increased its loan loss provisioning to QAR2.9 billion (USD793 million). This caused a marginal increase in NPL to rise to 2.3% as at 30 June 2021, 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 continued conservative policy with regard to provisioning for potential loan losses helped to achieve a coverage ratio of 108% as at 30 June 2021.
Total Equity increased to QAR98 billion (USD27 billion), up by 6% from June 2020. Earnings per share increased to QAR0.68 (USD 0.19).
At 30 June 2021, QNB Group reported a strong Capital Adequacy Ratio of 18.8% higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
QNB Group serves a customer base of approximately 20 million customers supported by more than 28,000 staff resources operating from 1,000 locations and more than 4,600 ATMs.