QNB Group, a leading bank in the Middle East and Africa, announced its results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 which revealed that net profit was QAR2.9 billion, ($787 million) up by 7.1% compared to last year. The Group's prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability allowed it to maintain an efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) of 22.7%, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region. Total assets increased by 9.7% from March 2015 to reach QAR550 billion ($151.1 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group. This was driven by a growth rate of 16.4% in loans and advances to reach QAR402 billion ($110.4 billion). The growth of the Group assets and liabilities has been affected by the sharp devaluation in the Egyptian Pound currency, in which total assets and customer deposits were negatively impacted by QAR7 billion ($1.8 billion) and QAR5 billion ($1.4 billion) respectively. The Group was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.4%, a level considered one of the lowest among banks in the Middle East and Africa, 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 120% in 31 March 2016. At the same time QNB Group increased customer funding by 10.1% to QAR403 billion ($110.7 billion). This led to the Group's loan to deposit ratio reaching 99.7%. Total equity increased by 11.1% from March 2015 to reach QAR60 billion ($16.6 billion) as at 31 March 2016. Earnings per share reached QAR3.4 ($0.9), compared to QAR3.2 in March 2015. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) calculated as per the QCB and Basel III requirements stood at 15.8% as at 31 March 2016, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee. The Group is keen to maintain a strong capitalization in order to support future strategic plans. QNB Group has maintained its position as one of the strongest rated financial institutions in the region.
