The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2021

The Commercial Bank quarter, we were honoured to be recognised as the “Best Bank in Qatar 2021” by Global Finance for the second time and also receive the “Serving Business Owners” and the “Data Management and Security” awards in Private Banking and Wealth Management in Qatar for 2021 from Euromoney. “The swift and decisive actions taken by Qatar’s leadership to stabilise the economy during the COVID-19 pan- demic has positioned it for a sustain- able and robust recovery. This is underpinned by Qatar’s successful vaccination programme and the gov- ernment’s ongoing investment in in- frastructure, including Qatar’s ambitious USD 28 billion plan to ex- pand its liquefied natural gas capac- ity, cementing its position as the world’s biggest supplier.” Mr. Hussain Alfardan, Commercial Bank’s Vice Chairman, added, “Commercial Bank continues to at- tract strong investor confidence, hav- ing demonstrated the resilience and agility of its business as we success- fully navigated the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging technology and maintaining a pru- dent risk management approach. This was demonstrated by the attrac- tive pricing and oversubscription of our inaugural international USD 500 million PNC5 AT1 issuance, the largest size international issuance for an AT1 out of Qatar.” Operating profit for the Group in- creased by 8.8% to QAR 795.0 mil- lion for the quarter ended 31 March 2021, compared to QAR 730.4 mil- lion achieved in the same period in 2020. Normalized net interest income for the Group increased by 7.4% to QAR 856.0 million (+5.9% on re- ported basis) for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 compared to QAR 796.7 million achieved in the same period in 2020. On normalized basis, net interest margin increased to 2.6% for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 compared to 2.5% achieved in the same period in 2020. Although asset yields have reduced, the increase in margins is mainly due to proactive management of the cost of funding. Normalized non-interest income for the Group increased by 12.3% to QAR 230.5 million (+210.3% on re- ported basis) for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 compared with QAR 205.2 million achieved in the same period in 2020. The overall increase in non-interest income was mainly due to the recovery of trading and in- vestment income following the un- precedented volatility in global markets, which adversely affected the comparative period in Q1 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. Normalized total operating expenses increased by 7.4% to QAR 291.6 million (+107.3% on reported basis) for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 compared with QAR 271.5 million in the same period in 2020. The Group’s net provisions for loans and advances increased by 12.9% to QAR 212.5 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2021, from QAR 188.2 million in the same period in 2020. The increase in provisions was mainly due to higher provisions on NPL customers. The nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio decreased to 4.2% by 31 March 2021 compared to 5.0% in the same period in 2020. The loan coverage ratio was at 105.9% by 31 March 2021. The Group balance sheet has in- creased by 11.4% by 31 March 2021 with total assets at QAR 163.1 bil- lion, compared to QAR 146.4 billion in March 2020. The increase was mainly due to loans and advances and due from banks. ISSUE 148 APRIL 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 15