Driven primarily by a “positive business momentum”, Commercial Bank Group reported a net profit of QR2.13bn for the nine-month period that ended in September, up 84.7% compared to the same period last year.
The bank’s total assets stood at QR165.3bn in September, up by 15.5% on the same period last year.
Customer loans and advances totalled QR101.1bn in September, up by 11.8% on the same period last year.
Commercial Bank reported “strong” capital adequacy ratio of 18.3% in September compared to 17.4% in September 2020.
Commercial Bank chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor al-Thani said, “Qatar’s economy demonstrated great resilience during Covid-19, with 4% growth year-on-year in the second quarter and is expected to strengthen further driven by the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, the North Field Expansion Project and the economic accelerators supporting the Qatar National Vision 2030.
“Furthermore, Qatar’s GDP per capita is set to increase 16% by 2025, with an uptick in activity in Q3 after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and as the country made great strides with its rapid vaccination campaign. Additionally, foreign demand is strengthening to boost domestic activity – all of which present a great opportunity for Commercial Bank’s continued growth.”
Commercial Bank’s vice chairman Hussain Alfardan said, “At Commercial Bank we are committed to supporting Qatar’s National Vision 2030, and to becoming a global hub for commerce and international business investments by providing world-class banking solutions to all our customers. These efforts have been recognised internationally when we received the ‘Best Digital Bank in Qatar’ award from AsiaMoney magazine for the second year in a row.
“We also received five prestigious awards from Global Finance for 2021 across both consumer and corporate digital banking award categories. This international recognition is testament to the strength of our best-in-class digital products and our ongoing investment in innovative technologies.”
Commercial Bank Group chief executive officer Joseph Abraham commented: “Commercial Bank has continued to deliver positive results for the nine months that ended on September 30, 2021. The Group reported a net profit of QR2.1bn for the period, up 84.7% compared to the same period last year. This was primarily driven by positive business momentum. The positive business growth was reflected in operating profit before provisions, which increased by 13.8% to QR2.6bn for the period.
“Group net interest income increased by 17.5% to QR2.7bn, with a growth in interest income by 4.5% and a reduction in interest expense by 10.7%, driven by effective management of the cost of funding.
“Total fees and other income decreased by 7.4% to QR759.7mn on a normalised basis (up by 34.4% to QR1bn on reported basis) compared to the same period last year primarily driven by lower FX and trading income from Alternatif Bank due to sharp increase in USD/TRY swap cost in 2021.
“The domestic bank reported a 3.5% increase in total fees and other income on a normalised basis, driven by a return to normalised spend patterns domestically and investment income.
“Gross provisions for the period reduced by 23.6% as compared to last year as ECL provisioning has come down due to increased market stability. However, overall net provisions remained flat due to lower recoveries. NPL coverage ratio improved to 115.9% compared with 94.5% for the comparative period due to continued prudent provisioning.
“Group loans and advances were QR101.1bn at the end of the first nine months of 2021, up by 11.8% compared to the same period in the previous year, and customer deposits increased to QR80.7bn, up by 10.3%. Low cost deposits increased by 12.4%, which has helped reduce the cost of funding and positively impacted our net interest margin which grew from 2.4% to 2.6% on a year on year basis.
“Alternatif Bank continues to improve its profitability as the bank reported net profit of QR2.5mn for the nine months that ended on September 30, 2021 reversing the net loss reported in Q1, 2021 caused by interest rate volatility.”
Customer loans and advances totalled QR101.1bn in September, up by 11.8% on the same period last year.
Commercial Bank reported “strong” capital adequacy ratio of 18.3% in September compared to 17.4% in September 2020.
Commercial Bank chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor al-Thani said, “Qatar’s economy demonstrated great resilience during Covid-19, with 4% growth year-on-year in the second quarter and is expected to strengthen further driven by the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, the North Field Expansion Project and the economic accelerators supporting the Qatar National Vision 2030.
“Furthermore, Qatar’s GDP per capita is set to increase 16% by 2025, with an uptick in activity in Q3 after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and as the country made great strides with its rapid vaccination campaign. Additionally, foreign demand is strengthening to boost domestic activity – all of which present a great opportunity for Commercial Bank’s continued growth.”
Commercial Bank’s vice chairman Hussain Alfardan said, “At Commercial Bank we are committed to supporting Qatar’s National Vision 2030, and to becoming a global hub for commerce and international business investments by providing world-class banking solutions to all our customers. These efforts have been recognised internationally when we received the ‘Best Digital Bank in Qatar’ award from AsiaMoney magazine for the second year in a row.
“We also received five prestigious awards from Global Finance for 2021 across both consumer and corporate digital banking award categories. This international recognition is testament to the strength of our best-in-class digital products and our ongoing investment in innovative technologies.”
Commercial Bank Group chief executive officer Joseph Abraham commented: “Commercial Bank has continued to deliver positive results for the nine months that ended on September 30, 2021. The Group reported a net profit of QR2.1bn for the period, up 84.7% compared to the same period last year. This was primarily driven by positive business momentum. The positive business growth was reflected in operating profit before provisions, which increased by 13.8% to QR2.6bn for the period.
“Group net interest income increased by 17.5% to QR2.7bn, with a growth in interest income by 4.5% and a reduction in interest expense by 10.7%, driven by effective management of the cost of funding.
“Total fees and other income decreased by 7.4% to QR759.7mn on a normalised basis (up by 34.4% to QR1bn on reported basis) compared to the same period last year primarily driven by lower FX and trading income from Alternatif Bank due to sharp increase in USD/TRY swap cost in 2021.
“The domestic bank reported a 3.5% increase in total fees and other income on a normalised basis, driven by a return to normalised spend patterns domestically and investment income.
“Gross provisions for the period reduced by 23.6% as compared to last year as ECL provisioning has come down due to increased market stability. However, overall net provisions remained flat due to lower recoveries. NPL coverage ratio improved to 115.9% compared with 94.5% for the comparative period due to continued prudent provisioning.
“Group loans and advances were QR101.1bn at the end of the first nine months of 2021, up by 11.8% compared to the same period in the previous year, and customer deposits increased to QR80.7bn, up by 10.3%. Low cost deposits increased by 12.4%, which has helped reduce the cost of funding and positively impacted our net interest margin which grew from 2.4% to 2.6% on a year on year basis.
“Alternatif Bank continues to improve its profitability as the bank reported net profit of QR2.5mn for the nine months that ended on September 30, 2021 reversing the net loss reported in Q1, 2021 caused by interest rate volatility.”