International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) has recorded QR500.3mn net profit in 2016, up 25% compared to the QR400.1mn in 2015, it was announced.
The bank said operating income increased by 5% to QR784.1mn mainly due to a 3% increase in foreign exchange to QR68.1mn (QR66.2mn in 2015); fees and commission increased by 4% to QR128.6mn (QR124.1mn in 2015), and investment income stood at QR20.9mn.
IBQ said the cost to income ratio stood at 37.3%, adding that it further expanded its retail distribution network during the year and continued to focus on its strategic initiatives to grow the personal and business banking business segments, resulting in higher variable costs to support increased business volumes. 
The bank said it continues its “prudent approach” to provisioning in the current economic environment. Net impairment recovery of QR8.3mn is mainly due to the corporate and private banking client recoveries against a net impairment charge QR72.4mn mainly related to one corporate customer, which was fully provided for in 2015.
Loans and advances increased by 3% to reach QR21.3bn compared to QR20.7bn in 2015 mainly from growth in the corporate banking portfolio, IBQ said.
Customers’ deposits jumped 8% to reach QR21.7bn in 2016 compared to QR20.2bn in the previous year. Current and savings accounts constituted approximately 20% of total deposits.
IBQ said overall asset quality remained strong “in spite of the deterioration in the broader market conditions.” Decline in non-performing loans (NPL) coupled with increase in loan book resulted in a drop of NPL to gross loan ratio from 2.2% in 2015 to 1.2% last year.
The bank’s liquidity continued to be comfortable with strong metrics from the net Stable Funding Ratio, Liquidity Ratio and the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). IBQ’s capital adequacy stood at 14.25% (after dividend payout) and was above the regulatory threshold mandated by the Qatar Central Bank.
IBQ managing director Omar Bouhadiba said, “Our performance in 2016 was robust, with all parameters pointing in the right direction. Operating income showed good growth in a difficult environment, as did profitability. To preempt any possible challenges to our credit quality that could have come from a weaker economic environment, we focused intensely on credit management.  
“This actually resulted in an improvement of our portfolio, as testified by a drop in our NPL ratio from 2.18% in 2015 to 1.21% in 2016, low by any standard. Liquidity was adequate at all times, although we had to cope with a rise in funding cost. This was balanced by the rapid growth of non-interest income, which increased 22%. Service excellence remained to our usual high standards, and all surveys show a high level of client satisfaction with our bank. The bank starts 2017 from a solid position. IBQ’s total capital adequacy is well ahead of the regulatory requirement set by the Qatar Central Bank. We are confident that IBQ will maintain its growth trajectory.”
IBQ chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani added that the results were a solid performance on previous year. He also commended management and staff for their determination throughout the year “for producing such a result.”