Commercial Bank’s nine-month net profit jumps 386% to QR1.26bn

In a clear testament to the successful execution of its five-year strategic plan, Commercial Bank posted a nine-month net profit of QR1.26bn, up 386% on the same period last year. 
The bank’s total assets stood at QR138.7bn at the end of September, which shows an increase of 3.5% over the same period last year.
Customer loans and advances stood at QR84.8bn in September, up 0.3% on the same period last year. Customer deposits totalled QR74.9bn at the end of the third quarter, up 2.2% on the same period last year. 
Commercial Bank chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor al-Thani said, “Qatar continues to transform its economy for a more sustainable future, implementing a raft of reforms designed to strengthen the economy, increase self-sufficiency and promote growth.
“Markets have reacted positively to Qatar’s economic developments and the vision of its leadership with the QE Index posting its biggest quarterly jump in four years, outperforming its regional peers and becoming the second-best performer in the world in dollar terms this year. 
“By aligning itself with the economic objectives of the nation and providing a strong, stable and innovative financial institution to support Qatar’s economy, Commercial Bank is pleased to continue to be a part of Qatar’s growth story.” 
Commercial Bank vice chairman Hussain Alfardan said, “Our bottom line continues to show improvement as our legacy loan provisioning reduces. We have also made progress in optimising costs with strategic investments in key technologies to digitise and automate internal systems, partly reflected in the 12% reduction in operating expenses during the first nine months of 2018 as compared to the same period last year.” 
The group’s net provisions for loans and advances decreased by 57.5% to QR617mn for the nine months ended September 30, from QR1.45bn for the same period in 2017. 
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio decreased to 5.5% in the nine months that ended in September compared to 5.6% for the same period in 2017. 
The loan coverage ratio is maintained at 83.5% compared to 91.6% for the same period in 2017. 
Commercial Bank group chief executive officer Joseph Abraham commented, “Commercial Bank’s performance during the first nine months of the year is a testament to the team’s execution of our 5-year strategic plan. Our consolidated operating profit was QR1.77bn, an increase of 8% while net profit increased 386% to QR1.26bn compared to the same period last year. 
“Our bottom line has benefited from the reduction of our legacy loan book provisioning and is trending towards a normalised provisioning rate. This was supported by a focus on efficiency across the business with operating expenses declining. As a result our cost to income ratio is now 33.5% compared to 38.1% for the same period last year. 
“Consolidated net interest income increased to QR1.91bn during the first nine months of 2018, up by 4% compared with QR1.84bn during the same period last year. Loans and advances remained stable at QR84.8bn at the end of Q3, due to the impact of the depreciation in Turkish lira and a contraction in government loans due to repayment of loans post the State of Qatar bond issue. Customer deposits increased to QR74.9bn in September, up 2.2% compared to the same period last year. 
“The domestic bank reported an increase of 7% in net interest income to QR1.6bn, supported by 4% growth in loans and advances compared to the same period last year and customer deposits increased by 3% at QR66bn. 
“Our strategy with Alternatif Bank in Turkey has been to focus on proactively addressing the risk profile of customers in order to meet possible challenges in the current risk and macro-economic environment. Alternatif Bank reported an increase in net profit to QR75mn in the first nine months of 2018, up 29% compared with the same period last year. In Qatari riyals, loans and advances to customers declined 18% in Q3, 2018 compared to the same period last year, due to currency depreciation. In local currency terms, Alternatif Bank delivered a growth of 62% in net profit, while loans and advances to customers increased 47% to TL19.1bn for the period.
“Our Associate, NBO reported a net profit of QR360mn for the first nine months of 2018, 10% higher than that of the same period in 2017. We continue to classify UAB as an asset held for sale and we remain focused on improving the performance of the entity as per our corporate strategy.”