Business & Money | Tuesday 29 March, 2016 12:51 am |

Qatar First Bank (QFB), Qatar’s leading Shari’ah compliant bank, Authorized by QFC Regulatory authority, offering investment opportunities and innovative financial solutions with local, regional and international reach, reported continued profitability according to their Full Year results for 2015. 

 

Attendees at QFB’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held yesterday, approved the Bank’s audited financial results for its seventh full year of operation and outlined a number of significant milestones achieved over the past twelve months across all business units.  

 

The Bank recorded gross income of QAR 336.5 million (US$ 92.5 million) in 2015, and net income of QAR 66 million (US$ 18.1 million) with total assets increasing by 26 per cent to reach QAR 5.9 billion (US$ 1.6 billion). During the year, QFB invested a total of QAR 33.9 million (US$ 9.3 million), bringing the total capital invested to date to QAR 1.54 billion (US$ 423.0 million). 

 

The Bank’s Sukuk book continued to grow in size to reach QAR 943 million (USD$ 259 million) and total deposits reached around QAR 3 billion.  

 

Abdulla Bin Fahad Bin Ghorab Al Marri, Chairman or QFB commented: 

“As the global investment market continues to go through major challenges, investors are demonstrating a growing interest in Shari’ah compliant financial offerings. This trend confirms QFB’s strategy to expand Shari’ah compliant products to the corporate and private banking market, providing expert advice on Islamic Finance services that demonstrate genuine growth and profitability.”

 

“Our strategy focuses on the bank’s role as a trusted advisor, a gateway for investors who wish to tap into innovative, shari’ah-compliant, financial solutions and investment opportunities in local, regional and global markets. We are at the beginning of a new era for our bank, and by launching an ambitious strategy, we are complementing our ambition to list our bank on the Qatar Exchange in the coming weeks.” Al Marri. 

 

Ziad Makkawi, Chief Executive Officer, QFB said: 

“Last year was a milestone year for QFB. We confirmed our strategy and streamlined our businesses to offer Shari’ah compliant services including alternative investments with a focus on private equity and real estate, as well as corporate & institutional banking, private banking & wealth management, and treasury & investments.”

 

Makkawi added: “We are proud to have a solid business structure supported by an experienced and talented team, well-equipped to meet shareholders ambitions and the Board’s aspirations. The results of this focus have already become clear and we have started to reap the benefits of our strategy introduced in 2015. Each area of the Bank performed well, generating new recurring income. We also witnessed significant growth in total assets, diversification and improvement of income sources, and enhancement of liquidity levels.” 

 

“Our listing on the Qatar Exchange remains a top priority and we continue to work closely with the concerned authorities to complete the listing requirements in the coming weeks.” He concluded. 

 

Looking ahead, QFB management team is very well aware that there is still a great deal of work to be done on the bank’s journey to success. Despite the challenging global and regional economic conditions, the bank will seek to continue to identify and seize new, attractive opportunities, deliver excellence for both private and corporate clients, build a strong brand, and provide shareholders with robust returns.