QNB sees 10% growth in 2012 on Qatar economic expansion

QNB expects to grow by 10% in 2012 on the back of Qatar’s economic expansion, bank chairman and HE the Minister of Finance and Economy, Yousef Hussein Kamal has said.“First of all, Qatar economy is growing… there are a lot of projects here. We are also expanding outside of Qatar,” Kamal said on the sidelines of QNB’s extraordinary and ordinary general assembly meeting last night. The minister said, “Though we miss our Islamic division, QNB is pretty confident it will be able to recoup what it actually missed through its activities.”“It is true our profit from the Islamic division got halved by about 50% in 2011. The profit we earned from our Islamic division in 2010 was about QR900mn. In 2012, we don’t have the Islamic branch,” Kamal said. He said in line with the Qatar Central Bank directive, QNB has already closed down its Islamic division-QNB Al Islami.QNB’s ordinary general assembly approved the bank’s audited financial results for the year that ended in December 2011.The general assembly has also ratified all items on its agenda including the proposal by the board of directors to distribute a cash dividend of 40% of the nominal share value (QR4 per share). The general assembly also approved the appointment of KPMG as external auditors for 2012.At the extra-ordinary general assembly meeting, shareholders approved the distribution of bonus shares of 10% of share capital amounting to 1 share for every 10 held.During the general assembly Kamal presented an overview of the bank’s activities and financial results for 2011 and took questions from the shareholders.The chairman said QNB Group was able to deliver “outstanding” financial results for 2011, driven by the on-going expansion across a range of activities, both domestically and internationally. This, along with the continuation of the adoption of a conservative approach to risk management have resulted in further enhancing QNB Group’s leading position among the financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region.QNB Group’s net profit for 2011 exceeded QR7.5bn, representing an increase of 32% over 2010, with total assets increasing by 35% to QR302bn.Kamal also provided an overview of the bank’s business plans for 2012 that focuses on retaining its leading position through diversifying income sources along with expanding the range of activities within the group.QNB Group, its subsidiaries and associate companies currently operate in some 24 countries.