Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has reported net profit of QR687.5mn for the first three months ended March 2020 and said its financials “have not been materially impacted” by the events related to pandemic Covid-19.
Total assets increased by 6.9% year-on-year to QR166.1bn, driven by the continued growth in the financing and investing activities.
Financing was up 7.2% to QR114bn, while customer deposits rose 2.3% to QR110.2bn during the review period.
Total income was up 5.1% year-on-year to QR1.94bn. Income from financing and investments saw a 3.1% growth to QR1.73bn, reflecting a healthy growth in the bank’s core operating activities.
Total expenses stood at QR271mn at the end of March 31, 2020. Strict cost controls and higher operating revenues enabled the bank to further enhance efficiency, as reflected in decreased cost-to-income ratio to 22.7% in the first quarter of 2020.
QIB was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing financing assets to total financing assets at 1.3%, reflecting the quality of the bank’s financing assets portfolio.
The lender continues to pursue the conservative impairment provisioning policy with the coverage ratio for non-performing financing assets at 100% as of March 31, 2020. “QIB’s efficient risk management framework has ensured that the results for the period ended March 31, 2020 have not been materially impacted by the events related to Covid-19,” a bank spokesman said.
However, the bank prudently has taken total impairment charge of QR276mn, representing an increment of QR74mn compared to that in the same period of 2019.
The Shariah-compliant bank continues to take necessary precautionary measures to ensure that its employees, customers and shareholders are safe and protected, it said.
Total shareholders’ equity of the bank has reached QR16.3bn. Total capital adequacy ratio, under Basel III guidelines, was 18.9% at the end of March 31, 2020, which is higher than the minimum regulatory requirements prescribed by the Qatar Central Bank and the Basel Committee.
In April 2020, Standard & Poor’s affirmed the bank’s credit rating at ‘A-’ with a “stable” outlook. In November 2019, Fitch affirmed QIB at ‘A’ with a “stable” outlook.
Also in December 2019, Moody’s affirmed the long-term deposit ratings of QIB at “A1” with a “stable” outlook. In May 2019, Capital Intelligence affirmed the bank’s long-term currency rating of ‘A+’ with a “stable” outlook.