QNB is putting Southeast Asia as the focus of its expansion, the chief executive officer of the Middle East’s biggest lender said.

“Our focus really was the Middle East and then we expanded to Southeast Asia where we’re now focusing,” Abdulla al-Khalifa said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “If we find the right opportunity for acquisition, we will consider it,” he said, adding there are no deals currently under review.

QNB has been expanding with the purchase of National Bank of Greece SA’s Turkish unit and Societe Generale SA’s Egypt subsidiary.

Expanding abroad is part of how the bank will continue growing despite the small scale of Qatar’s local market, al-Khalifa said. “We know that Qatar, at one point in time, will not be itself sufficient to satisfy our expansion growth, or the growth potential that we have.”

Gas-rich Qatar is home to about 2.8mn people and QNB has roughly half the market share. The lender reported record profit in 2019, helped by higher interest income.

Al-Khalifa was promoted to QNB’s top job in December after 13 months as acting CEO and more than two decades working for the lender. The shares have gained 1.7% this year after posting a 5.6% advance in 2019.

Al-Khalifa also said the reduction in real estate value in Qatar is a “very healthy” correction; and QNB has changed the way it finances real estate investments to consider a period of 12-15 years instead of six-eight years.

The CEO sees the bank continuing to build credit growth in the private sector, particularly services, trading and contracting. He also expects the bank to help finance new liquefied natural gas facilities.

Al-Khalifa is encouraging consolidation among competitors and would like them to be bigger.


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