QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, posted a net profit of QR6.7 billion ($1.8 billion) for the six months ended June 30, up by 7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The results demonstrated QNB Group’s success in maintaining strong growth while controlling costs, said a statement.

Total assets reached QR768 billion ($211 billion), up by 11 per cent from June 2016, the highest ever achieved by the group. This was driven by a growth rate of 11% in loans and advances to reach QR552 billion ($152 billion).

QNB Group was successful in attracting new customer deposits. These deposit mobilisation efforts resulted in increased customer funding by 15% to reach QR562 billion ($154 billion). This led to the group’s loan to deposit ratio reaching 98.3%, compared with 101.7% in June 2016. This clearly demonstrates the success of QNB’s strategy to diversify its funding sources, it said.

The group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability helped to improve the efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) to 29.3% as at June 30, 2017, from 30.4% in June 2016, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region, the statement said.

The group was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.8%, a level considered one of the lowest amongst financial institutional in the MEA region, reflecting the high quality of the Group’s loan book and the effective management of credit risk. The group’s conservative policy in regard to provisioning continued with the coverage ratio reaching 110% in 30 June 2017.

Total equity increased by 1% from June 2016 to reach QR74 billion ($20 billion) as at June 30, 2017. Earnings per share reached QR7, compared to QR6.7 in June 2016. -TradeArabia News Service