QIB set to expand its operational horizon

23/02/2016 08:37 AST

QIB, Qatar’s leading Islamic Bank, will expand its operational horizons and allow the bank to offer a range of advanced services to its individual and corporate customers. This will enable the bank to develop innovative banking services and mitigate any possible operational risk, QIB Chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber AI Thani announced yesterday.

Addressing the bank’s annual general meeting yesterday, Sheikh Jassim said QIB moved to T24 core banking system in a smooth and efficient manner replacing the existing core banking system that was implemented back in 2000. This upgrade will help expand its operational horizons.

The Bank did better than most of its peer banks in terms of its asset growth, financing assets, customer deposits and net profit. QIB took significant steps in improving its administrative and operational efficiency by adapting its organisational structure to suit its requirements and the increase in the level of banking activities. Internal accomplishments were headlined by the successful execution of the technological transformation project.

QIB also completed a comprehensive renovation of its major branches supported by the new system in order to provide a superior banking experience to customers, and started the expansion to new locations in major shopping malls, Hamad International Airport, and at key locations across Doha, in addition, steps were also taken to restructure non-performing branches. All these major initiatives have led to attracting new customers from different segments, individual and corporate. QIB became a major competitor in the local market, attracting an expanded and diverse customer base. Additionally, QIB took special care of its human resources in terms of training and development to help achieve customer satisfaction by providing banking services of the highest level. As a result, the Bank’s efforts were recognised by numerous international financial institutions and publications.

In terms of QIB’s international presence, the business results registered by QIB’s affiliates and subsidiaries have shown a qualitative transformation in terms of results and some of them have made positive results. “We continue to fulfil all QCB requirements and Basel III Guidelines regarding the capital adequacy ratios, in addition to making optimum utilisation of the opportunities in investing and financing in order to sustain our growth,” Sheikh Jassim said.

The bank’s 2015 full-year results marked the beginning of a steady rise to a prominent and significant leap in the Bank’s journey. Total Assets increased by 32 percent compared to 2014 and now stand at QR127bn, while Customer Deposits registered a strong growth of 37 percent to QR92bn.

The annual general meeting approved the board of directors’ recommendation to increase the maximum size of QIB Sukuk programme to $3bn from $1.5bn. It also approved the proposal to distribute 42.5 percent cash dividends of the nominal value per share, i.e QR4.25 per share.

The Peninsula