Doha Bank’s headquarters in West Bay.
DOHA: Doha Bank has reported a net profit of QR471m for the first half of this year (H1, 2018) ended June 30, against a net profit of QR715m for the same period last year after taking significant loan loss provision in relation to the bank’s GCC branches.
The interest income increased significantly, up by 12.5 percent as compared to the same period last year. However, the net interest income of the bank showed a year on year drop of 1 percent despite the challenges the market is facing for more than a year now.
Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha Bank, announced Doha Bank’s financial results for the first half of 2018. Sheikh Fahad said: “the Bank’s core revenue streams have shown a sustainable earning capacity reflecting on the Bank’s intrinsic strength towards recurring earning capacity and also on the Bank’s productive operational performance especially at the times when the bank is consolidating its asset growth.”
Total assets decreased by QR2.7bn, a decline of 2.9 percent, from QR91.8bn as at June 30, 2017 to QR89.2bn as at June 30 2018. Net loans and advances stood at QR57.9bn as at June 30, 2018 from QR59.2bn for the same period last year, registering a decline of 2.2 percent. Customer deposits showed decrease of 7.9 percent from QR56bn to QR51.6bn as at June 30, 2018.
Sheikh Abdul Rehman bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank, said: “The Bank has total equity as at June 30, 2018, at QR12.5bn. Through the strategic utilization of the shareholder’s funds by way of increasing our performance levels the return on average shareholders’ equity is 10.0 percent as at 30 June 2018. The Bank, given the scale of operations, has achieved a return on the average assets of 1.03 percent as at June 30 2018”
The Bank launched the Qatar’s first Exchange Traded Fund (QETF) as a tool for investment, introduced a new salary transfer package with additional benefits to its customers and launched Al Jana Series 7 - a new premium fixed deposit scheme with high rates of return. Highlighting the bank’s key initiatives and innovations, Dr Seetharaman said, “Doha Bank looks to set the industry standard and continually explore new financial instruments that drive maximum value.”
During the year, the Bank introduced a ‘Cards Summer Campaign’ with many benefits for its customers. During the holy month of Ramadan,
Doha Bank announced a car loan offer bundled with a free Comprehensive Car Insurance and hosted a special Suhoor banquet for its customers.
Now in its fifteenth edition, the ‘Al Dana’ savings scheme monthly prize draw got to see the winners walk away with life-changing prizes. Reaffirming its commitment to providing its clients with the best-in-class banking experience, Doha Bank announced new exclusive benefits for its priority banking Al Riyada customers.
Dr Seetharaman said, “We offer our Al Riyada customers exclusive products, pricing and benefits, which are all designed to suit our customers’ needs.” Keeping pace with needs of the customers, the Bank revamped the Doha Sooq e-commerce website, introduced an Arabic portal, and pgraded its online banking portal for improved customer experience with enhanced security features.
