QIIB grew on all fronts, 2017 a successful year'

27/03/2018 07:27 AST

The Vice-Chairman of QIIB, Sheikh Abdullah bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, has said that the year 2017 had witnessed the bank's capability in achieving its target growth in terms of the most important financial indicators including financials, deposits and assets portfolios, thus helping it to maintain high ratings assigned to it by global credit rating agencies.

This reflects the implementation of the bank's interim plans and strategy and its ability to benefit from the strength of the Qatari economy, Sheikh Abdullah said while addressing the ordinary general meeting of the bank yesterday.

The year 2017 had been very challenging, since the world economic map was changing and various factors were affecting the global economic stability. "It is true that facing challenges is something we got used to, but we have been able to turn challenges into opportunities. We have overcome many obstacles and we continued to work very hard in close collaboration with the country's various economic sectors, which strengthened QIIB's position as a leading bank capable of maintaining a stable constant growth, achieving the best returns for its shareholders and providing the best services and benefits for its customers." Sheikh Abdullah said.

On the bank's overseas expansion plans, he said the bank would meticulously examine any available opportunity and conduct feasibility studies especially in terms of risks. QIIB was able to open the first Islamic Bank in the Kingdom of Morocco in partnership with local partners after receiving all the required licenses for practicing Islamic banking activities. "We named the new entity, Umnia Bank and we expect that this investment achieves good results and returns based on detailed studies conducted on the Moroccan market's needs for Islamic banks and Shariah-compliant financing," the Vice-Chairman said. Sheikh Abdullah said the board of directors has reviewed and updated all policies and procedures so as to comply with the governance and sound management policy in accordance with the requirements of Qatar Central Bank and the Qatar Financial Markets Authority. The Board also makes continuous efforts to meet all relevant governance and sound management requirements, whose final form was clarified following the amendment of the articles of association as shown in the corporate governance annual report presented to the shareholders and prepared by the Bank's Governance Unit that operates independently under the direct supervision of the Board of Directors, he said.

Dr Abdulbasit Ahmad Al Shaibei, CEO of QIIB said the banks performance was solid and was very much in line with the bank's growth trajectory, be it in terms of the growth rates, expansion of the customer base or other main financial indicators.

"Having reviewed the financial indicators of QIIB by the end of 2017, we find that our Bank's financial position remains strong," he said. The bank's total revenues reached QR1.9bn at the end of last year compared with QR1.7bn at the end of 2016, which represents a growth rate of 8.8 percent.

The strength of the Qatari economy and its ability to overcome all the obstacles and challenges have mainly contributed to shielding the local banking sector from the ill-effects of the blockade. The government measures have turned the blockade into an opportunity and have contributed to achieving financial stability of the banking sector and helped overcome any consequences of the blockade. The growth figures for the various items provisioned in the QIIB budget confirm these facts, he said.

During 2017, the bank's major focus was on local market, particularly the opportunities offered by the Qatari economy. The effective cooperation and special partnership between QIIB and the Qatar Development Bank (QDB), has helped facilitating financing to many SMEs and entrepreneurs' initiatives.

For the purpose of strengthening the bank's financial position and diversifying the funding sources, QIIB has established a $ 2bn Sukuk issuance programme. The bank has received the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom to list it on the London Stock Exchange, Dr Al Shaibei said. The meeting approved the board of directors' recommendation to distribute 40 percent cash dividends to the shareholders.

The general assembly also approved the General Assembly's last year approval to establish up to $ 2bn Sukuk programme and delegate the bank board of directors' to decide the size of each issuance, terms and conditions, issuance currency after getting all necessary approvals from supervisory authorities.

The Peninsula