Ahlibank Holds Annual and Extraordinary General Meeting
7 March 2017
Ahlibank, one of Qatar’s leading banks, held its Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday, 7th March, with good attendance from the bank’s shareholders.
Ahlibank’s board reported a strong set of financial results outlining a net profit of QR 631.7 million for the year ended 2016.
The Annual General Meeting approved the Board’s recommendation for distribution of cash dividends for the financial year ended 31 December 2016 to the registered shareholders as at the AGM at the rate of 10%, and in the form of free shares at the rate of 5%.
The Extraordinary Annual General Meeting also approved the increase of the Bank’s capital by the number of free shares approved by the AGM’s resolution equal to 5% amounting to 9,540,156 Shares, such that the Bank’s capital becomes 200,343,271 shares.
With regard to Ahlibank’s financial performance Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Director, commented: “We achieved positive results for the year ended 31 December 2016, although the year 2016 was a challenging for many industries, including the banking sector, due to the drop and fluctuation in oil prices and other events which affected the economy.”
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani further stated: “We will continue to live by our brand values to be at the heart of the community and our promise to provide the most personal banking experience in Qatar.”
The bank’s financial performance highlights for 2016 include:
- The Bank’s Balance Sheet grew by 18.2% over December 2015 to QR 38,165 million, driven mainly by growth in Loans and Advances.
- Liquid Assets as a percentage to Total Assets stood at 27.8% in December 2016 vis-à-vis 23.7% in December 2015, despite tight liquidity in the region.
- Total Core Funding expanded by 28.8% to reach QR 31,128 million as against QR 24,171 million in December 2015. The funding growth was primarily driven by a 22.7% growth in Customer Deposits to QR 25,011 million and a 73% growth in stable medium term funding to QR 3,880 million in December 2016.
- Stable Funding as a percentage to Total Liabilities improved to 11.6% vis-à-vis 8.1% in December 2015.
- Loan to Deposit ratio improved to 107% as of December 2016 compared to 118% in December 2015 as a 22.7% growth in Customer Deposits outpaced a loan growth of 11.7%.
- Cost to Income Ratio for 2016 remained steady at 30.7%, reflecting efficient management of operating expenses.
- The Return on Average Assets (ROAA) and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood solid at 1.84% and 13.6% respectively, despite an increase in balance sheet size and equity base.
Non-Performing Loans Ratio (NPL) improved to 0.82% as of December 2016 from 1.24% in December 2015, reflecting strong asset quality. Provision Coverage grew stronger to 151% from 126% in December 2015.