Commercial Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani (right); Vice-Chairman of Commercial Bank, Hussain Alfardan (second left) and other Board members during the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of the bank, yesterday.
Doha: Commercial Bank held its Ordinary General Assembly Meeting yesterday and approved all items on the agenda including the board’s recommendation to distribute a cash dividend of 20 percent of the share’s nominal value.
In a message delivered on the occasion of the General Assembly, Commercial Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani noted that actions taken under the bank’s five-year strategic plan are delivering good results as demonstrated by the Bank achieving the highest annual net profit in its history in 2019.
“Thanks to strong leadership and prudent macroeconomic management, Qatar’s resilient economy continues to withstand the diplomatic and economic blockade imposed in 2017. Qatar has strong economic fundamentals, with a stable business environment that is supportive of foreign investments. This is recognised by major rating agencies and Qatar has maintained strong sovereign ratings of Aa3, AA- and AA- from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch respectively”, the Chairman said.
A clear indication of the confidence that international investors have in the economy was evident when Qatar successfully raised $12bn from the bond markets in March 2019, which was more than four times oversubscribed and with lower spreads than in previous issues.
Sheikh Aabdulla said Qatar has competitive strengths in LNG compared to Qatar’s regional neighbours and the lifting of the moratorium on the development of the North Field will cement Qatar’s position as the world’s largest LNG exporter for many years to come. Qatar will continue to invest heavily in strengthening the private sector to secure the nation’s long-term financial future. Spending on major infrastructure projects such as Hamad Port, the Special Economic Zones, roads and logistics centres in strategic locations across the country will boost economic diversification, he said.
Commercial Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Joseph Abraham said the bank successfully executed the third full year of its five-year strategic plan in 2019. The five-year plan was designed to reshape Commercial Bank’s business, build sustainable earnings, diversify risk and achieve growth.
“We are on track to deliver this plan, achieving in 2019 the highest net profit in the history of the Bank....... The disciplined execution of our five-year strategic plan is delivering results and market recognition has come in the form of numerous award wins in 2019 including “Best Retail Bank”, “Best Cash Management Bank”, “Best Transaction Banking Service” and “Best Mobile Banking App” by reputable providers,” Abraham said.
The Group CEO noted that corporate earnings quality was strong in 2019, with good growth across the board. The bank increased its capital to 11.1 percent within its minimum CET1 target range of 11 percent to 11.5 percent and we continued to improve our cost to income ratio, moving down from 33.4 percent to 28.3 percent closer in line with the market.
The bank has reshaped and diversified its loan book by proactively exiting high risk names, decreasing our concentration in real estate and increasing our share of high-quality government and public sector loans by 47 percent in 2019, Abraham said.
New Board of Directors
The shareholders elected the following Board members for a period of three years.
Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, Hussain Alfardan (Alfardan Investment), Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Omar Hussain Alfardan, Khalaf Ahmed Al Mannai (QIC), Saleh Abdulla Al Mannai, Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad bin Jassim Al Thani (Independent), Mohd Ismail Mandani Al Emadi (Independent); and Bader Omar Al Dafa (Independent).
Following the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting, a meeting of the newly-elected Board of Directors was held and elected Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani as Chairman, Hussain Alfardan as Vice Chairman and Omar Alfardan as Managing Director of Commercial Bank.
