Mubasher: Qatar National Bank’s (QNB) financial indicators on Tuesday showed a growth of 7% year-on-year in profits for the first quarter of 2018.
Profits amounted to QAR 3.4 billion during the three-month period ended 31 March 2018, compared to QAR 3.2 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, according to the bank’s statement to Mubasher.
Total assets increased by 12% to QAR 834 billion since 31 March 2017, recording an all-time high, the Middle East's largest lender by assets said.
Loans and advances were the primary driver of the growth in the bank's total assets after growing 12% to QAR 598 billion.
Moreover, the Qatar-based bank succeeded in boosting customer funding by 12% to record QAR 604 billion, in addition to maintaining its loans to deposits ratio at 99%, the statement showed.
“The Group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability helped to improve the efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) to 27.8%, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region,” QNB said.
Earnings per share (EPS) reached QAR 3.6 in Q1-18 versus QAR 3.3 in the same period of the prior year.
By the end of Tuesday’s session, QNB’s stock rose 1.55% at QAR 143.19.
