AGL 38.50 Increased By ▲ 0.93 (2.48%)
AIRLINK 131.35 Decreased By ▼ -1.15 (-0.87%)
BOP 5.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.71%)
CNERGY 3.83 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (1.59%)
DCL 8.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-2.48%)
DFML 40.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.27%)
DGKC 89.11 Decreased By ▼ -1.05 (-1.16%)
FCCL 35.25 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.48%)
FFBL 66.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.08%)
FFL 10.48 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (3.25%)
HUBC 109.45 Increased By ▲ 3.05 (2.87%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.82%)
KOSM 7.05 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (2.92%)
MLCF 42.23 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.03%)
NBP 59.25 Increased By ▲ 0.67 (1.14%)
OGDC 184.00 Increased By ▲ 2.75 (1.52%)
PAEL 25.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.58%)
PIBTL 5.91 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.37%)
PPL 147.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-0.61%)
PRL 23.45 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (0.99%)
PTC 16.57 Increased By ▲ 1.33 (8.73%)
SEARL 69.20 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (0.6%)
TELE 7.25 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.14%)
TOMCL 35.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.69%)
TPLP 7.57 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (2.3%)
TREET 14.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.63%)
TRG 50.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.28%)
UNITY 26.83 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.63%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,805 Increased By 37.5 (0.38%)
BR30 29,768 Increased By 367.7 (1.25%)
KSE100 92,254 Increased By 315.5 (0.34%)
KSE30 28,797 Increased By 53.3 (0.19%)
Business & Finance

Qatar National Bank profits drop 16pc as loan loss provisions rise

  • Gulf banks have faced a slowdown in business and a rise in loan impairments as Covid-19 hit the region.
  • QNB reported a net profit of 12 billion riyals ($3.20 billion)in 2020, it said in a statement, down from 14.4 billion riyals in 2019.
Published January 12, 2021

DUBAI: Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's biggest bank by assets, on Tuesday reported a drop in annual profit of more than 16%, hit by $1.6 billion in impairments during a year when the region's economy was affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Gulf banks have faced a slowdown in business and a rise in loan impairments as Covid-19 hit the region. The outlook for 2021 is uncertain due to the protracted nature of the economic recovery.

QNB reported a net profit of 12 billion riyals ($3.20 billion)in 2020, it said in a statement, down from 14.4 billion riyals in 2019.

The profit was slightly above the mean forecast of 11.7 billion riyals by seven analysts, based on Refinitiv data.

"Considering the long-term financial impacts of Covid-19, QNB Group decided to set aside an additional 5.8 billion (riyals) in respect of loan loss provisions as a precautionary measure, which affected the net profit for the year," the bank said. In 2019, impairments were about 3.2 billion riyals.

Qatar's economy is expected to grow by 3% this year as an easing of a three-year-old regional dispute will help trade, tourism, and logistics, Standard Chartered said on Jan. 6, revising its previous 2.1% growth estimate.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies agreed earlier in January to end a boycott imposed in mid-2017 over allegations that Qatar supports terrorism, charges it has denied.

Qatar's economy is projected to have contracted by about 2.5% in 2020, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Despite the pandemic, QNB said its total assets increased to a record 1 trillion riyals, driven by a 7% rise in loans and advances.

QNB improved its cost to income ratio from 25.9% to 24.3% which the bank said is considered one of the strongest ratios among the large financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa region.

Comments

Comments are closed.