Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani (left), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha Bank; Sheikh Abdul Rehman bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani (centre), Managing Director of Doha Bank, and Dr R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Ban
DOHA: Doha Bank has recorded a solid net profit of QR381m for the first quarter of 2018 (Q1, 18), up 4.7 percent, compared to QR364m for the same period in 2017. The Bank increased net interest income by 7.5 percent to QR560m. Total assets increased by QR2.9bn, a growth of 3.2 percent, from QR90.7bn as at March 31, 2017 to QR93.6bn as at March 31, 2018.
Announcing the results Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha Bank said: “This is another outstanding result and is clear demonstration that Doha Bank continues to perform consistently.”
Doha Bank’s net loans and advances increased to QR59.9bn from QR59.5bn from a year ago, registering a growth of 0.7 percent. Customer deposits showed a year on year increase of 9.9 percent from QR54.0bn to QR59.3bn, reflecting the strong liquidity position of the Bank.
Sheikh Abdul Rehman bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank said “The Bank has become extremely strong over the years with total equity, as at March 31, 2018, at QR12.4bn. Through the strategic utilisation of the shareholder’s funds by way of increasing our performance levels the return on average shareholders’ equity is 16.3 percent as at March 31, 2018 one of the best in the industry. The Bank, given the scale of operations, has achieved a very high return on the average assets of 1.63 percent which is a clear demonstration of the effective utilization of shareholder’s funds and optimum asset allocation strategies”.
In light of the bank’s strong performance, Doha Bank approved and distributed 30 percent cash dividend to the shareholders for the year 2017.
During the quarter, the AGM agreed to issue debt notes “bonds” through the EMTN programme and reduce the minimum amount per issuance under the commercial papers programme from $50m to $1m.
Dr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, said: “Despite the challenging market conditions, Doha Bank’s strong performance throws light on its superior products and services, ongoing customer demand, capitalizing on market synergies.”
Doha Bank continued its growth through key innovations, achievements and initiatives. In the first quarter of 2018, Doha Bank built on its reputation for offering high rates of return with the launch of a new premium fixed deposit scheme – Al Jana Series 7. In addition, the bank launched the 15th edition of its flagship programme, the 2018 Al Dana Scheme – a unique savings platform with exciting prizes for customers across all segments. Before that, Doha Bank crowned the 10th and the final Millionaire of Al Dana Savings Scheme’s 14th Edition.
Furthermore, the bank unveiled the latest release of the new co-branded mobile application ‘Doha Bank My Book Qatar’, which is an ever-growing source of deals and voucher schemes. Doha Bank also partnered with Visa Inc. to offer its customers a chance to win a trip to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia based on card spend.
Doha Bank established the first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in Qatar, which listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. “As a leading financial institution in the region, Doha Bank looks to set the industry standard and continually explores new financial instruments that drive maximum value for investors not only locally but globally,” said Dr. R. Seetharaman.
