QNB honoured as ‘most valuable banking brand in Middle East and Africa region’

QNB Group has maintained its ranking of the “most valuable banking brand” in the Middle East and Africa region, confirming the QNB brand among the “World’s Top 500 Banking Brands.”This, according to the annual survey carried out by Brand Finance and published by The Banker magazine, an affiliate to the internationally acclaimed Financial Times newspaper.Highlighting the extent of its top performance in 2017, QNB witnessed the value of its brand increase to $3.8bn or a 56% increase compared to last year, to rise to the 60th place globally, in addition to attaining the highest rating of AA+ in brand strength, making it the only Qatari banking brand among the world’s top 100.QNB said the milestone “is a testament to the combination of continuing robust financial performance and successful international expansion of a brand” that now operates in more than 30 countries across three continents.This year is also the first time that QNB appears in the Brand Finance Global 500, which covers the world’s most valuable brands from across all countries and sectors. QNB Group is the only financial brand from the Middle East and Africa to be included among the top 500 and is the only Qatari brand from any sector to make the list.The Group’s financial results and its strong performance during 2016 had also a positive impact on its brand value ranking. Net profit reached QR12.4bn ($3.4bn), up by 10% from the previous year. Total assets reached QR720bn ($198bn), up by 34% from December 2015, “the best absolute results” in QNB Group’s history, and credit ratings remained among the highest experienced across the Middle East and Africa region.Of particular significance to brand value and reach in 2017 was QNB Group’s strategic acquisition of a 99.88% stake in Finansbank A? (now rebranded as QNB Finansbank), the fifth-largest privately owned universal bank in Turkey by total assets, customer deposits, and loans. “The accomplishment of this ranking is the result of the steps that the group has followed during the last years and until the end of this year, and we are proud to be one of the leading banking brands today,” said QNB Group Communications general manager Yousef Darwish, who explained that these steps have contributed “a great deal” in the ranking of a brand that is now valued at $3.8bn, exceeding any other bank in the sector.He stressed that the outstanding performance and strong growth in 2016 had helped QNB realise its vision of becoming a 2017 MEA Icon, and that building on QNB’s continued success, QNB Group has embarked on the aspiration of becoming “a leading bank in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia (Measea) by 2020.”“We are proud of being the only Qatari brand in the financial sector among the world’s 100 best brands in the world today, and this is a strong motivation for all who belong to the group to continue achieving prestigious recognitions of our brand in the near future to reach new global levels,” Darwish said.