Qatar First Bank (QFB) has reported a net profit of QR3.4mn on a revenue of QR491mn during the third quarter of this year.
On corporate and institutional banking, during this year, the bank has grown its liability book by more than 10% year-on-year to QR3.37bn, reflecting investors’ confidence in the bank.
Despite the volatile market conditions, QFB has also grown its financing portfolio by 31% to QR1.45bn during 2016.
“The global economic backdrop will remain challenging for the remainder of this year; however, we will continue to push ahead to develop innovative financial solutions and source attractive investment opportunities for our individual and institutional clients,” QFB chief executive Ziad Makkawi said, adding “we are transforming from being an investment-focused to an investor- focused entity”, which is being reflected in the continued development of its Shariah-compliant offering across all business lines.
The newly listed lender said its alternative investments division is well-positioned to provide capital solutions to the growing businesses in the region, which will benefit from its experience and the network in Qatar and abroad.
“The (alternative investments) team has developed its current platform to offer private equity expertise to investor clients. In parallel, we will continue to diversify our portfolio and focus on business services, healthcare, education and real estate sectors while expanding into new geographical markets regionally and internationally,” Makkawi said.
The bank has been able to maintain a growing corporate and institutional portfolio, offering several Shariah-compliant financing products and liability solutions including Wakala, Murabaha, Ijara and Istisna’a.
On the private banking and wealth management front, QFB said it has increased its business, expanded its services across major cities in the region, solidified relationships with existing clients, and generated fee income from high net worth individuals and private family offices.
On the treasury and investments front, which has already achieved its financial targets for the year, the bank said it continued to focus on liquidity optimisation through interbank market and money markets.
The treasury will continue to grow and develop its capabilities with a concentration on developing in-house products during next year and offer attractive products linked to several sectors including real estate and aviation, it said.
“Despite challenging global economic conditions, regional market volatility and geopolitical tension, we continued to implement our strategy recording to an increase in revenues and in the range of Shariah-compliant services,” Makkawi said.