Doha: Qatar First Bank (QFB) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday to discuss the bank’s performance and future initiatives after releasing its financials for the year ended December 31, 2019.
The AGM, held at QFB Lounge premises in Doha, adhered to all the precautionary measures to ensure the safety of participants.
The AGM was presided by QFB Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani. The shareholders discussed and approved, the bank’s audited financial results and the performance of the 2019 full year of operation.
Addressing the AGM, Sheikh Faisal said: “2019 was arguably the most enunciated year for QFB. The bank took key decisions throughout the year where we witnessed a turnaround performance with three profitable quarters reflecting that QFB’s new strategy map has started generating affirmative results.”
QFB’s growth momentum continued related to its income streams where fee income increased by 103 percent to QR32.3m compared to QR15.9m in 2018 largely driven by new structured products introduced during 2019. QFB made continuous gain from its cost rationalization plan where bank reduced its total expenses by 17.2 percent compared to 2018.
In line with QFB’s strategy of maximizing value from its proprietary investments, QFB managed to sell its shares in FutureCard Industries and Kuwait Energy Company. Additionally, QFB signed definitive agreements to sell its shares in Food Services Company.
QFB completed the $117m off-market acquisition of 90 North, a four-building, 262k-square-foot office campus located in Bellevue, Washington which is QFB’s sixth product offering and fourth in the US real estate market. QFB also made a successful exit along with its investors through the sale of two Boeing 737-900ER aircrafts, which is its second sharia-compliant aviation deal. The two aircrafts were on a 7-year long-term sharia-compliant lease contract to Indonesia’s Lion Air.
