The Commercial Bank of Qatar, its subsidiaries and associates have posted a net profit of QR1.5 billion ($426.1 million) net profit for the first nine months of the year, up 19 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The bank generated a net profit of QR503 million during the third quarter of the year, an increase 79 per cent compared to the same period last year, said a statement.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, chairman of the board of directors, said: “Qatar’s economy continues to grow robustly despite a slowing global economy.  The most recent GDP growth figures of 5.7 per cent for the country demonstrate Qatar’s resilience as the country diversifies its economy, generating an increasing share of revenue from non-hydrocarbon sectors.  

“Commercial Bank has benefited during the period from the successful execution of its strategy across its operations in Qatar, Turkey, the UAE and Oman and we remain confident in our full year performance.”

The net operating income increased by 22 per cent to QR 2.9 billion during the period, up from QR2.4 billion achieved in the same period last year.

The total operating expenses were up 36 per cent to QR1.2 billion in the first nine months of the year, compared with QR911 million for the same period last year.  

Excluding ABank, the expenses increased by nine per cent for the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period last year as Commercial Bank continued to invest in its people and infrastructure.

The bank delivered strong balance sheet growth at the end of the period increasing by 8.6 per cent with total assets at QR114.3 billion, compared to QR105.3 billion last year.  

ABank contributed QR18.7 billion of assets for the period, while balance sheet growth was driven mainly by an increase of QR5.8 billion in lending to customers combined with an increase of QR2.4 billion in due from banks.

Andrew Stevens, group chief executive officer, said: “The strategies we have put in place across our regional assets are demonstrating good progress.  We have focused on improving our returns and we have done this by only pursuing lending opportunities that match our return expectations, continuing to attract lower cost deposits, diversifying our funding base and effectively managing our costs.”

Meanwhile, Alternatifbank (ABank), the group’s subsidiary in Turkey, delivered a 95 per cent increase in net profit to TL99 million ($44.9 million) for the nine months ended September 30.

Its associates - National Bank of Oman and United Arab Bank have also achieved a strong financial performance for the nine months with a 24 per cent improvement in profitability as compared to the same period last year. - TradeArabia News Service