QInvest has seen a 6% increase in its revenue to QR416mn and a 3% rise in operating profits to QR220mn in 2016, the investment bank said yesterday.
The company’s net profits stood at QR22.5mn last year, following a prudent provisioning policy that will enable the firm to absorb any unpredictable market shocks without interruption to its business.
The bank, licensed by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and authorised by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, has also seen its assets scaling up 5% to QR4.7bn.
Revenues during the year came from across all three business lines – investment banking, principal investments and asset management. They were generated from a variety of activities including advisory services, financing activities, private equity and fund investments, in addition to fees from discretionary managed accounts. These revenues were also generated across multiples geographies, which demonstrated the diversity and strength of all of the business lines.
QInvest also executed several deals, advised and co-advised on a number of landmark transactions, entered new partnerships and invested in existing and new assets.
The “overall health of the firm remains strong” with a capital adequacy ratio of 36% and cash and cash equivalents remaining at higher levels than 2015, exceeding QR687mn.
QInvest chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani said, “The economic uncertainty and geopolitical changes during 2016 affected markets across the world. QInvest’s investments were impacted by this challenging environment. However, the de-risking measures we have put in place, including the setting of higher provision rates, enabled the firm to counter-balance the impact on its portfolio.”
QInvest chief executive officer Tamim Hamad al-Kawari said, “Looking into 2017, we started the year with an active book of funded investments and a healthy pipeline of deals. We have also been working on structuring new investment opportunities across a number of different asset classes, in particular in the international real estate market, debt and equity investments, and funds.”
