Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Qatar’s leading Islamic Bank, has announced the results for the three months’ period ended 31 March 2021. Net Profit attributable to the Shareholders of the Bank amounted to QAR 750 Million for the three months’ period ended March 2021 representing a growth of 9.1% over the same period in 2020.
Total Assets of the Bank has increased by 8.5% compared to March 2020 and 3.4% compared to December 2020 and now stands at QAR 180 Billion driven by the continued growth in the financing activities.
Financing activities have now reached QAR 125 Billion having grown by 9.8% compared to March 2020 and up by 5.1% compared to December 2020. Customer Deposits of the Bank now stand at QAR 126 Billion registering a growth of 14.3% compared to March 2020 and up by 6.6% compared to December 2020.
Total Income for the three months’ period ended 31 March 2021 was QAR 2,100 Million registering 8% growth compared to QAR 1,944 Million for the same period in 2020. Income from financing and investing activities has registered a growth of 1.8% to reach QAR 1,758 Million at the end of the three months’ period ended 31 March 2021 compared to same period last year. The Bank was also able to achieve significant reduction in cost of funding (profit paid to Sukuk and Unrestricted Investment Account holders) enabling robust growth in the Net Operating Income.
Total Operating Expenses for the three months’ period ended 31 March 2021 was QAR 269 Million compared to QAR 271 Million for the same period in 2020. Strong operating income generation and cost containment enabled the Bank to achieve further efficiencies bringing down the cost to income ratio to 17%, which is the lowest in the Qatari Banking sector.
QIB was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing financing assets to total financing assets at 1.5% reflecting the quality of the Bank’s financing assets portfolio. Given the ongoing uncertainties related to impact of pandemic, the Bank created additional precautionary impairment charge on financing assets for QAR 558 Million for the three months’ period ended 31 March 2021 as against QAR 219 Million set aside during the same period last year. QIB continues to pursue the conservative impairment policy maintaining a healthy 92.3% coverage ratio for non-performing financing assets as of March 2021. The Bank continues to take necessary actions and precautions for safety and well-being of its employees, customers and to the community at large.
Total Shareholders’ Equity of the Bank has reached QAR 18.1 Billion. Total Capital adequacy of the Bank under Basel III guidelines is 19% as of March 2021, higher than the minimum regulatory requirements prescribed by Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.
In March 2021, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) affirmed the Bank’s credit rating at ‘A-’ while upgrading the Bank’s Stand-Alone Credit Profile. In November 2020, Fitch Ratings affirmed the Bank’s credit rating at ‘A’ and Moody’s Investors Service, (“Moody’s”) also affirmed the Long-term deposit ratings at “A1”. In April 2021, Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI) has affirmed the Bank’s Long-term Currency Rating (LTCR) of ‘A+’. In the backdrop of challenging economic conditions due to the ongoing pandemic, affirmation of the rating by all the rating agencies with a stable outlook is a reflection of Bank's adequate capital buffers, good profitability, relatively conservative management, limited market-funding reliance, supported by its established and growing Islamic banking franchise
In the first quarter of 2021, QIB has received a number of prestigious awards from well-respected international publications. Mr. Bassel Gamal, QIB Group’s CEO has also entered Forbes’ prestigious Top CEOs in the Middle East ranking.
QIB has been awarded four prestigious accolades at the Global Finance Magazine’s World's Best Islamic Banks Awards for 2021, including ‘Best Islamic Corporate Bank – Global’ in addition to ‘Best Islamic Bank in the Middle East’ and ‘Best Islamic Bank in Qatar’ for the second consecutive year, and ‘Best Islamic Bank in Sudan’.
QIB was also recognized with two prestigious titles at The Digital Banker Magazine’s Middle East & Africa Innovation Awards 2021, as ‘Best Mobile Initiative in Qatar’ and ‘Best Bank for Cash Management in Qatar.’ The Bank received ‘Digital Bank of the Year in Qatar’ and ‘Best Retail Mobile Banking Experience in Qatar’ at The Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2021. The Bank was also recognized as ‘Best Islamic Bank in the Middle East’, ‘Best Digital Bank of the Year in Qatar’ and ‘Best Mobile Banking in Qatar’ at the International Business Magazine Award 2021.
QIB was awarded the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Qatar’ by Islamic Finance News (IFN), the world’s leading Islamic finance publication and news provider, for the second consecutive year. The Bank was named the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Qatar’ at the 13th edition of the Middle East Banking Awards, presented by EMEA Finance. QIB has also been awarded four prestigious accolades at the 2021 Global Banking & Finance Review Awards, including ‘Best Bank Transformation Qatar 2021’, ‘Best Islamic Digital Bank Qatar 2021’, ‘Best Islamic Retail Bank Qatar 2021’ and ‘Best Islamic Corporate Bank Qatar 2021’.