Qatar National Bank Passes Asset Milestone of 1 Trillion Riyals

(Bloomberg) --

Qatar National Bank QPSC said its assets have passed the 1 trillion-riyal ($273.5 billion) mark and it set aside more money in provisions as a “precautionary measure.”

The Middle East’s biggest bank booked 5.8 billion riyals in loan-loss provisions, compared with 3.18 billion riyals a year ago, according to a statement on Tuesday. Total assets ended 2020 at 1.025 trillion riyals, an increase of about 9% from the previous year.

Profitability for lenders in the Gulf remains under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic as disruptions to trade and travel continue to rattle the energy-rich region. The outlook for Qatar is turning more favorable following the restoration of its ties with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt after a diplomatic breakthrough this month ended a three-year dispute.

• QNB’s 2020 net income dropped 16% to 12 billion riyals
  • Estimate 12.20 billion (range 11.12 billion to 15.90 billion) (Bloomberg Consensus)
• Operating income 25.4 billion riyals; estimate 25.92 billion (range 25.29 billion to 28.60 billion)

“The bank continues to provision for Covid-19,” Citigroup Inc. analysts Rahul Bajaj and Ronit Ghose said in a research note. “While QNB has reported weak headline numbers, we do note that that the bank continues to perform strongly on a pre-provision basis.”

Other key numbers from QNB’s report:

• Operating income increased 1% from year ago despite the impact of Covid-19 and the decline in oil prices
• Dividend per share 0.45 riyals
• Cost rationalization and sustainable revenue generating sources helped QNB improve cost-to-income ratio to 24.3% from 25.9%

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