QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.
Net Profit the six months ended 30 June 2020 reached QAR6.4 billion (USD1.8 billion), a decrease of 13% from same period last year. Considering the global economic conditions, QNB Group opted to increase the loan loss provisions during the first half of 2020 by QAR1.2 billion (USD320 million) to protect the Group from any adverse shocks in the loan book. This affected overall profitability for the Group.
Operating Income increased by 2% to QAR12.8 billion (USD3.5 billion). This reflects QNB Group’s success in maintaining sustainable growth across a number of operational revenue segments, despite fee related concessions offered to customers located in QNB Group’s key markets affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Total Assets reached QAR972 billion (USD267 billion), an increase of 10% from 30 June 2019. Loans and advances grew by 11% to reach QAR705 billion (USD194 billion), in supporting growth in Total Assets. Strong customer deposits generation helped to increase customer deposits by 10% to reach QAR712 billion (USD196 billion) from 30 June 2019.
In addition, as another response to current economic conditions, QNB Group renewed its operational rationalization, which is yielding cost-savings that has helped QNB Group materially improve efficiency (cost to income) ratio to 24.5%, from 25.6% in June 2019, which is considered one of the best ratios among large financial institutions in the MEA region.
NPL ratio amounted to 2.0% as at 30 June 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. QNB Group achieved a coverage ratio of 100% which reflects the conservative approach adopted by the Group towards non-performing loans.
Total Equity reached QAR92 billion (USD25 billion), up by 3% from June 2019. Earnings per share stood at QAR0.64 (USD 0.2).
QNB Group reported robust levels of capital, liquidity and funding measured in terms of CAR achieved at 18.3%, LCR at 159% and NSFR at 104%. All of the required ratios were higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
QNB Group serves more than 20 million customers supported by 29,000 staff resources operating from 1,000 locations and more than 4,200 ATMs.