Ahlibank Holds Annual and Extraordinary General Meeting
25 February 2019
Ahlibank held its Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday, 25th February, chaired by Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Director with good attendance from the Bank’s shareholders.
Ahlibank’s board reported a net profit of QR 665.6 million for the year ended 2018 with an increase of 4.04% over 2017. (2017:- QR 639.7 million)
The Annual General Meeting
approved the Board’s recommendation for distribution of dividends for the year ended 31 December 2018 to the registered shareholders as at the date of the AGM. These are in the form of cash dividends at the rate of 10%, and in the form of free shares at the rate of 10%. The dividend proposal intends to maximise shareholders’ wealth, as well meet the requirements of the Bank’s internal capital, liquidity and balance sheet growth projections.
The Extraordinary Annual General Meeting also approved the increase of the Bank’s capital by 10% amounting to 21,036,043 shares i.e. the number of shares approved as dividend. With this increase, the Bank’s capital becomes 231,396,478 shares.
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Directorcommented on Ahlibank’s financial performance: “Ahlibank delivered another year of steady performance, a testament to our conscientious and prudent approach, rewarding us once more with a solid and steady financial performance for the year ended 2018. I am pleased to report positive results for our Bank for the year 2018, achieving a net profit of QAR 665.6 million compared to QAR 639.7 million for the year 2017, with earnings per share equal to QAR 3.16 (QAR 3.04 in 2017). Total assets grew to reach QAR 40.4 billion compared to QAR 39.9 billion at the end of 2017.
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani further stated: “In 2018 the Bank completed 35 years of serving Qatar’s economy and the Qatari community at large. 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 2018 include:
- The Bank’s Balance Sheet grew by 1.30% over December 2017 to QR 40,403 million.
- Liquid Assets as a percentage to Total Assets improved significantly to 30.6% in December 2018 as against 25.8% in December 2017 driven by growth in liquid assets.
- The Bank’s Stable Funding consisting of Medium Term Loans and Debt Notes as a percentage of Total Liabilities improved to 17.6% in December 2018 compared with 16.8% in December 2017 as the Bank focused on improving the maturity profile of liabilities.
- Net Operating Income increased by 5.4% to QR 1,101 million on account of higher Non-Interest Income driven by higher Fee & Commission Income and Investment Income.
- Cost to Income Ratio for 2018 improved to 28.1% from 30.6% in 2017 due to a 5.4% growth in Total Operating Income and a 3.1% reduction in Total Operating Expenses, reflecting efficient management of the Bank’s operations.
- The Return on Average Assets (ROAA) and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood solid at 1.73% and 12.6% respectively, despite an increase in balance sheet size and equity base.
- Non-Performing Loans Ratio (NPL) stood at 1.69% as of December 2018 with a Provisions Coverage Ratio of 134%, reflecting strong asset quality. Loan Loss Provisions include IFRS 9 Expected Credit Losses related to Stage 1 and Stage 2 loan portfolio.
- Total Capital Adequacy Ratio as of December 2018 stood at a healthy 18.24%, reflecting strong capital position of the bank.