QInvest, a leading investment bank in Qatar, has posted revenues of QR416 million ($114 million) for 2016, reflecting a six per cent increase over the revenues in the previous year.

Operating profits increased 3 per cent to QR220 million ($60 million), and assets increased by five per cent to QR4,688 million ($1,288 million).  

Revenues during the year came from across all three business lines – investment banking, principal investments and asset management. They were generated from a variety of activities including advisory services, financing activities, private equity and fund investments, in addition to fees from discretionary managed accounts.

These revenues were also generated across multiples geographies, which demonstrated the diversity and strength of all of the business lines. QInvest also executed several deals, advised and co-advised on a number of landmark transactions, entered new partnerships and invested in existing and new assets.

QInvest reported QR22.5 million ($6.2 million) in net profits attributed to shareholders following a prudent provisioning policy that will enable the Firm to absorb any unpredictable market shocks without interruption to its business. The overall health of the Firm remains strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 36 per cent and cash and cash equivalents remaining at higher levels than 2015, exceeding QR 687 million ($189 million).

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of QInvest’s Board of Directors said: “The economic uncertainty and geopolitical changes during 2016 affected markets across the world. QInvest’s investments were impacted by this challenging environment, however, the de-risking measures we have put in place, including the setting of higher provision rates, enabled the Firm to counter-balance the impact on its portfolio. Our team continued to implement our strategy, which we launched three years ago, focusing on diversification and risk-adjusted returns. We remain committed to this approach during 2017.”

Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari, chief executive officer of QInvest, said: “The market environment during 2016 presented a mix of challenges which we managed to successfully navigate and achieve positive operating performance.  We are pleased with the growth of our revenues and operating profit. It demonstrated the effectiveness of our diversification strategy, especially during the ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.”

“Looking into 2017, we started the year with an active book of funded investments and a healthy pipeline of deals. We have also been working on structuring new investment opportunities across a number of different asset classes, in particular in the international real estate market, debt and equity investments, and funds. We will update the market on these new investments in due course,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service