Doha – Mubasher: Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) assigned a first time rating of "A1" to Qatar Islamic Bank’s (QIB) local and foreign currency deposit, with a “Stable” outlook.
Moody’s said that QIB owns solid asset quality and sound capital buffers, and achieves good profits. The bank was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing financing assets at a lower level than the local market average.
QIB’s growth will reflect the increasing penetration of Sharia-compliant assets in Qatar, and will continue in carrying out its plan to be the most effective private sector bank, according to Moody’s.
In addition to the "A1" long term deposit rating, Moody’s has also assigned a short-term rating of "Prime-1" local and foreign currency deposit ratings, "baa2" baseline credit assessment (BCA), and a "baa2" adjusted BCA. Furthermore, Moody's has assigned a counterparty risk assessment (CR Assessment) of "Aa3(cr)/Prime-1(cr)".
“Being assigned this positive rating by Moody’s underscores and recognises the quality and strong position of QIB in Qatar and GCC banking sector,” QIB’s group CEO Bassel Gamal said.
“The ratings affirm the bank’s success in pursuing our long-term growth and performance objectives and speak to the strength of Qatar’s economy and the banking sector,” Gamal added.
The Qatar-listed bank had previously reported achieving profits worth QAR 2.155 billion in 2016, compared to QAR 1.954 billion in 2015.
The stock closed at QAR 97.94, losing 0.20%, on Thursday.
