Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) announced that they achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of QAR 2,405 million for the fiscal year 2017 compared to QAR 2,155 million for 2016, marking an increase by 11.6% over last year.

Basic earnings per share reached QAR 9.31 compared to QAR 8.55 in December 2016. In line with the improved profitability, QIB Board of Directors proposed a higher dividend distribution to shareholders of QAR 5 per share, i.e. 50% of the nominal share value, subject to approval of Qatar Central Bank and the General Assembly.

Total Assets of the Bank has increased by 7.5% compared to 2016 and now stands at QAR 150 billion driven by a robust growth in the financing and investing activities. Financing activities have now reached QAR 102.6 billion, having added QAR 4.4 billion, representing a 4.5% growth over 2016. Investment securities have now reached QAR 30.4 billion having added QAR 10.4 billion, representing a 52% growth over 2016. Customer Deposits have registered a strong growth of 6.7% compared to 2016 and now stand at QAR 101.8 billion improving the bank’s financing to deposit ratio.

Total Income for the year ended 31 December 2017 and was QAR 6,199 million, registering 13% growth compared to QAR 5,488 million for 2016. Income from financing and investing activities has grown by 15% to reach QAR 5,462 million at the end of 2017 compared to QAR 4,757 million for 2016, reflecting a healthy growth in the bank’s core operating activities.

Total expenses of QAR 1,106 million for the year ended 31 December 2017 are 1.5% above QAR 1,089 million for the year ended 31 December 2016. Strict cost controls supporting higher operating revenues enabled further enhancement of efficiency, bringing down the cost-to-income ratio to 26.6% for 2017 compared to 29.8% for the year 2016.

QIB was able to manage the ratio of non-performing financing assets to total financing assets at 1.2%, one of the lowest in the industry, reflecting the quality of the Bank’s financing assets portfolio and its effective risk management framework. QIB continues to pursue the conservative impairment policy with the coverage ratio for non-performing financing assets reaching 107% as of December 2017.

Total Shareholders’ Equity of the bank reached QAR 15.3 billion, an increase of 7.4% compared to December 2016. As of December 2017, the Total Capital adequacy of the bank under Basel III guidelines is 17.3%, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements prescribed by Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani said that the positive financial results are achieved through the successful implementation of their business strategy and effective risk management framework.

The results confirm the bank’s strong financial position and reflect the firmness and stability of the Qatari banking sector and the country’s economy. We are committed to deliver continued value to all our stakeholders and provide to our customers complete, modern and convenient banking solutions in full compliance with Shari’a guidelines.

During the last few years, we managed to increase our market share to become the second largest bank in the country, with approximately a 12% share of total banking assets. QIB today, has the required scale, resources and financial strength to continue to deliver high quality banking services to all banking customers in Qatar.

The Bank is accelerating its future development plans which are aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the government’s commitment to diversify the local economy and develop a strong private sector.’

Sheikh Jassim also expressed his gratitude to QIB shareholders and customers for their trust in the bank, and his appreciation to the Board of Directors and all bank employees for their contribution and continuous efforts towards achieving positive results and continuous improvements.

In May 2017, Moody’s Investors Service, (Moody’s) has for the first time assigned Long term deposit ratings to QIB at ‘A1’. In August 2017, Fitch Ratings assigned QIB a Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A’, in April 2017 Capital intelligence Rating (CI Ratings or CI) reaffirmed QIB Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of ‘A’ and QIB rating was affirmed by S&P at ‘A-‘.

Visit the QIB website for more information.