(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: QNB, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, reported a net profit of QR14.4bn ($3.9bn) for the full-year 2019, an increase of 4 percent compared to last year. QNB's Total Assets increased by 10 percent from December 2018 to reach QR945bn ($259bn), one of the best set of results in QNB Group's history.
The Board of Directors have recommended to the General Assembly the distribution of a cash dividend of 60 percent of the nominal share value (QR0.60 per share). The financial results for 2019 along with the profit distribution are subject to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) approval, QNB said in a statement yesterday.
QNB's solid growth in loans and advances by 10 percent achieving QR679bn ($186bn), contributed to the growth in Total Assets. This was mainly funded by strong customer deposits generation which helped to increase customer deposits by 10 percent, to reach QR684bn ($188bn) from 31 December 2018. QNB achieved healthy loans to deposits ratio of 99.2 percent as at 31 December 2019.
Operational efficiency resulted in a strong efficiency (cost to income) ratio of 25.9 percent, in addition to achieving sustainable revenue generating sources, which is considered one of the best ratios among large financial institutions in the region.
The ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans amounted to 1.9 percent as at 31 December 2019, one of the lowest amongst financial institutions in the MEA region, reflecting the high quality of the Group's loan book and the effective management of credit risk. The Group's conservative policy in regard to provisioning resulted in the coverage ratio at 100 percent as at 31 December 2019.
Total Equity increased by 7 percent to reach QR95bn ($26bn) as at 31 December 2019. Earnings per Share reached QR1.45 ($0.40), compared to QR1.44 ($0.39) in December 2018.
Group Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as at 31 December 2019 amounted to 18.9 percent, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee. QNB Group serves a customer base of approximately 25 million customers supported by 29,000 staff resources and operating from more than 1,100 locations.
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