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Doha
Qatar is well served by the banking sector with a comprehensive suite of conventional and sharia compliant products and services, Acting Group CEO of Qatar National Bank (QNB) Abdulla Mubarak al Khalifa has said.
Speaking at the Euromoney Qatar Conference in Doha on Sunday, Khalifa said Qatar’s banking sector remains well capitalised, with high asset quality and robust profitability. He said the capital adequacy ratio stands at 17 percent, well above Basel III guidelines.
“Asset quality remains high with non-performing loans (NPLs) at 1.9%, one of the lowest in the region. Profitability remains solid with returns on equity (RoE) over 15%.”
Khalifa said, “QNB is the largest banking institution in the Middle East and Africa across all financial metrics, and it is also one of leading banks in the Middle East and Africa and South-East Asia (MEASEA).”
“We stand out as a strong and highly rated international bank. We operate as a full-service financial institution in our core markets of Qatar, Turkey and Egypt; and as a wholesale commercial bank across a range of frontier and emerging markets in Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.
“We also have a growing presence in more developed economies, such as UK, France, Switzerland and Singapore. Today, we are present in more than 31 countries across three continents with 25 million customers and 30,000 employees.”
As a trusted, global brand, QNB offers valuable market insights and a range of quality products and services that benefit corporate, institutional and retail customers alike, he noted.
Khalifa said the rapid pace of innovation and digital transformation is forcing the financial services sector to change and evolve.
“We have accepted this challenge and taken steps to embrace the change to become a part of future of banking even if it means to disrupt ourselves.
“This year, we established QNBBeyond our global innovation centre. QNBeyond is both, a think tank for innovation and an accelerator. By doing this, we ensure we continue to focus on value creation and future-proof our business to be the bank of choice for millions of customers today and into the future.”
He said leading international rating agencies classify QNB as a top tier credit worthy institution.
“As of last quarter, our assets grew to an all-time high of $250 billion. This growth was naturally driven by strong loan and deposit growth in Qatar as well as across our international footprint.
“We continue to maintain high asset quality and efficiency. As a result, we have been able to deliver stellar consistent sustainable profitability. Our nine months profits this year stood at $3.1 billion and we are on the path to another record year.
“Our consistent sustainable performance is also demonstrated by our brand value. Brand Finance ranks us as the most valuable banking brand in the Middle East and Africa with a brand value of more than $5 billion.”
Today, we are one of the top 500 global brands across all industries, he pointed out.
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09/12/2019
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