Doha, 27 June 2011 – Qatar National Bank Group (QNB) was announced the Best Bank in the Middle East and Best Bank in Qatar at the Banker Middle East Industry Awards ceremony held recently in Dubai.
QNB is among the largest banks in the MENA region and is the leading financial institution in Qatar, holding almost 45% of the total banking assets in the country.
The Bank has the largest distribution network in Qatar, comprising 61 branches and more than 195 ATMs in addition to an expanding presence spanning more than 24 countries.
Winning these awards proves that QNB leads the regional banking industry in various performance measures used by Banker Middle East to decide the results. These performance measures include growth, return on assets, asset base and a number of other elements.
These top recognitions capped a high performance in 2010 for the Bank when it witnessed substantial profitability growth reaching QR5.7 billion, up 35.8% from 2009 levels.
In the first quarter of 2011, the Bank recorded the highest profit level in the region with net profit surpassing QR1.7 billion, increasing by 34.8% from Q1 2010. Total assets grew to QR242.7 billion, increasing by 32.5% over Q1 2010 and loans and advances and financing activities grew to QR140.7 billion, up 19.5%. Customer deposits and unrestricted investment accounts also increased by 36.4% to reach QR179.9 billion.
QNB is among the top financial institutions in terms of market capitalization and holds the largest total shareholders’ equity post the rights issue that was concluded in May 2011.
Capital Intelligence recently upgraded the Bank’s financial strength rating from A+ to AA- and affirmed all other ratings which are considered the highest in the region. This rating demonstrates the Bank’s strong financial position, systemic importance and its overall asset quality. QNB’s rating from leading international rating agencies including Standard & Poor’s, Capital Intelligence, Fitch and Moody's is the highest or on par with a small group of leading financial institutions in the region.
QNB offers a full range of retail, corporate, investment, treasury and wealth management banking products and services for individuals, corporate institutions and government entities. The Bank is constantly striving to provide intelligent banking solutions and its range of products and services, especially the diversity of its delivery channels continues to be unrivalled. Earlier this year, QNB launched its independently regulated licensed brokerage subsidiary, QNB Financial Services.