The total assets of Qatar’s eight listed banks on the Qatar Stock Exchange, witnessed an increase by approximately QR83.6bn over the first 9 months of 2019. The banks’ total assets reached QR1.57 trillion as at 30 September 2019, compared to QR1.49 trillion as at 31 December 2018 and to QR1.53 trillion as at 30 June 2019.
PwC Qatar’s second Qatar Banking Sector Report released yesterday, noted that of the total assets as at 30 September 2019, Islamic banks’ market share stood at QR312.9bn (19.93 percent), in comparison to the QR1.26 trillion (80.07 percent) that was reported by the conventional banks. The total loans and advances of the eight listed banks totalled QR1.081 trillion. The total market share provided by Islamic banks stood at QR214.5bn (19.84 percent), compared to the QR866.9bn (80.16 percent) that was disclosed by the conventional banks as at 30 September 2019.
Burak Zatiturk, PwC Qatar Financial Services Leader said: “Powerful forces such as customer expectations, technological capabilities, regulatory requirements, demographics and economics are reshaping the banking industry. In order to win in this era of change, banks must not only execute on today’s imperatives, but also radically innovate and transform themselves for the future. Digital banking will definitely provide options to be fit for the future, and many banks worldwide are currently building the infrastructure to enable digital banking.”
Based on the disclosed results of the listed commercial banks in the State of Qatar, the aggregate total loans and advances to total assets ratio stood at 68.87 percent as at 30 September 2019, increasing by 0.25 percentage points over Q3 2019, from the 68.62 percent that was witnessed on 30 June 2019.
The total customer deposits balance amounted to QR1.053 trillion, an increase of QR61.7bn or 6.22 percent over the first 9 months of 2019 and an increase of QR18bn or 1.73 percent since 30 June 2019. The listed commercial banks’ aggregate loans and advances to customer deposits ratio stood at 102.6 percent as at 30 September 2019, increasing by 1.2 percentage points from its corresponding value as at 30 June 2019, and close to recovery from 103.1 percent at 31 December 2018.
The total profit of the listed banks increased by 5.60 percent on year-on-year, reaching QR19.2bn for the period-ended 30 September 2019. Over the nine months of 2019, the market price of shares of the banks was impacted by stock splitting, increasing the number of outstanding shares to lower nominal value per share. The main purpose of stock splitting is to make the share price look more affordable to investors.
