By: Eman Ghaly
Mubasher: The financial statements of banks listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) showed a rise of 21.3% year-on-year in profits during the fourth quarter of 2017, according to Mubasher’s statistics.
Lenders' profits amounted to QAR 4.6 billion ($1.3 billion) in Q4-17, up from QAR 3.8 billion ($1.04 billion) in the same quarter a year earlier.
The banking sector consists of nine companies, namely: Qatar National Bank (QNB), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Masraf Al Rayan, Doha Bank, Qatar First Bank (QFB), Qatar Commercial Bank (QCB), Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) and Ahli Bank.
QFB was the sector’s only decliner with a loss worth QAR 129.6 million in Q4-17.
Annual performance
Profits of the nine banks levelled up 6.6% to QAR 21.03 billion in Q4-17 versus QAR 19.73 billion in the same quarter the previous year, the statistics showed.
QNB’s stock generated an annual profit of QAR 13.1 billion, the highest among its peers.
On the other hand, Qatar Commercial Bank recorded the highest annual growth over the previous year with 20.5%, while its profits reached QAR 147.9 million.
Assets
Over the course of the last year, assets of the QSE-listed banks levelled up 9.6% to QAR 1.4 trillion versus QAR 1.31 trillion in the previous year.
Qatari bank’s operating revenues grew 3.7% to QAR 44.3 billion in the year ended December 2017 versus QAR 42.7 billion in the prior year.
Cash dividends
Cash dividends of the nine banks hiked 38.2% year-on-year to QAR 10.6 billion for the full year 2017, according to Mubasher’s statistics.
Qatar First Bank was the sector’s only firm which recommended not to distribute cash dividends for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Financial services
Profits of financial services companies surged 360.3% to QAR 21.86 million in Q4-17 from QAR 4.75 million in Q4-16.
Year-on-year, companies’ profits increased 7.9% to QAR 28.54 million last year versus QAR 26.45 million in 2016.
Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein
