The Banking Executive Magazine, Issue 154, October 2021

QIB Million marginally below same pe- riod last year on account of lower market interest rates. Total operating expenses for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2021 decreased to QAR 797 Million from QAR 822 Million for the same period in 2020. Strict cost controls supported by higher operating rev- enues enabled further enhancement of efficiencies with cost to income ratio improving from 20.5% to 17.5% for the nine months period ended 30 September 2021, the best in the Qatari Banking sector. QIB was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing financing assets to total financing assets at 1.4% reflect- ing the quality of the Bank’s financ- ing assets portfolio. The Bank continued to create additional pre- cautionary impairment charge on fi- nancing assets of QAR 1,194 Million for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2021 against QAR 961 Million set aside during the same pe- riod last year. In line with the Bank’s conservative impairment policy the coverage ratio for non-performing fi- nancing assets as of September 2021 was improved to 95% compared to 92.3% as at December 2020. Total Shareholders’ Equity of the Bank has reached QAR 19.9 Billion up by 8.9% compared to December 2020 and higher by 12.8% com- pared to September 2020. Total Cap- ital adequacy of the Bank under Basel III guidelines is 18% as of Sep- tember 2021, higher than the mini- mum regulatory requirements prescribed by Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee. In October 2021, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) affirmed the Bank’s credit rat- ing at ‘A-’ following the upgrade the Bank’s Stand-Alone Credit Profile earlier this year. In August 2021 2020, Fitch Ratings affirmed the Bank’s credit rating at ‘A’ while in May 2021 Moody’s Investors Serv- ice, (“Moody’s”) affirmed the Long- term deposit ratings at “A1”. Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI) has also af- firmed the Bank’s Long-term Cur- rency Rating (LTCR) of ‘A+’ in April 2021. Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has re- ceived more than 30 prestigious awards and recognitions in the first 9 months of 2021 from well-respected international publications including Forbes Middle East, The Banker (part of Financial Times Group), Global Fi- nance, Digital Banker, Asiamoney, IFN, The Asian Banker and The Asset Triple A. These accolades span across differ- ent offerings of the Bank reflecting the commitment and efforts that the bank has put to meet the ongoing needs of all customer segments, in- dividuals, SMEs, and Corporates. It is also a great testament to the bank’s continuous investment in digital led initiatives as part of its digital trans- formation plan both locally as well as internationally. This year’s Forbes Middle East Mag- azine’s annual ranking of the top 100 listed companies in the region for 2021 ranked QIB #18 in the Middle East, and 2nd top listed company in Qatar. QIB was also named Best Per- forming Bank in Qatar by The Banker Magazine and Mr. Bassel Gamal, QIB Group’s CEO has been recog- nized in the prestigious Forbes Mid- dle East Top CEOs Ranking. QIB received the prestigious ‘Islamic Bank of the Year in Qatar’ for the 9th consecutive year, and ‘Islamic Bank of the Year in The United Kingdom’ from The Banker Magazine. The Bank was awarded two further accolades at Global Finance’s 2021 Innovators Awards, with both QIB’s Domestic Workers Digital Accounts and Integrated Services on PoS for Corporate and SME Customers win- ning ‘Outstanding Innovations in Is- lamic Finance’. QIB also received 6 awards namely: ‘Best Consumer Dig- ital Bank’, ‘Best Online Product Of- ferings’, ‘Best in Lending’, ‘Best Online Portal’, ‘Best Open Banking APIs’, and ‘Best SME Banking’. The Magazine also recognized the Bank’s efforts to strengthen the Islamic Bank sector locally and internationally with ‘Best Islamic Corporate Bank – Global’ and ‘Best Islamic Bank in the Middle East, Qatar and Sudan’ awards. QIB received two prestigious awards, “Best Digital Bank in Qatar” and “Best SME Bank in the Middle East and Qatar” by The Asian Banker. QIB has also been awarded by Global Banking & Finance Review Awards, as ‘Best Bank Transforma- tion in Qatar’, ‘Best Islamic Digital Bank in Qatar’, ‘Best Islamic Retail Bank in Qatar’ and ‘Best Islamic Cor- porate Bank in Qatar’. QIB was further recognized with two prestigious titles from The Digital Banker Magazine, as ‘Best Mobile Initiative in Qatar’ and ‘Best Bank for Cash Management in Qatar.’ The Bank also received the ‘Best Islamic Bank in the Middle East’, ‘Best Digi- tal Bank of the Year in Qatar’ and ‘Best Mobile Banking in Qatar’ at the International Business Magazine Awards. The Asset Magazine awarded QIB five awards: ‘Digital Bank of the Year in Qatar’, ‘Best Retail Mobile Bank- ing Experience in Qatar’, ‘Islamic Bank of the Year’, ‘Islamic Issuer of the Year – Financial Institution’, and ‘Best Bank Sukuk’. The Bank was named ‘Best Bank for SMEs in Qatar’ at the Asiamoney Middle East’s Best Bank Awards 2021 and received the “Best Retail Bank in Qatar” award at the 12th Annual Re- tail Banker Trailblazer Awards in col- laboration with MEED and GlobalData. Visa awarded QIB with “Apprecia- tion for Innovation in Digital Bank- ing” award for its enhanced digital solutions to Visa cardholders. ISSUE 154 OCTOBER 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 27