Ahlibank Holds Annual and Extraordinary General Meeting
16 February 2016
Ahlibank, one of Qatar’s leading banks, held its Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday, February 16th, with good attendance from the bank’s shareholders.
Ahlibank’s board reported a strong set of financial results outlining a net profit of QR 647.7 million for the year ended 2015, an increase of 7.7% over the corresponding period last year (2014 – QR 601.3 million).
The Annual General Meeting approved the Board’s recommendation for distribution of cash dividends for the financial year ended 31 December 2015 to the registered shareholders as at the AGM at the rate of 15%, and in the form of free shares 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% and amounting to 9,085,861 Shares, so that the Bank’s capital becomes 190,803,114 shares.
With regard to Ahlibank’s financial performance Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Director, commented: “We informed our shareholders today that Ahlibank continued to deliver another year of steady performance in a tough market environment.”
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani further stated: “As a Qatari bank at the heart of the community, we look forward to building upon these achievements over the coming years in the interest of our shareholders and the Qatari community.”
The bank’s financial performance and highlights include:
- Total Operating Income for 2015 grew by 6.6% to QR 995.9 million. This growth was driven primarily by the bank’s Non-Interest Income, which grew by 28.3% to reach QR 234 million.
- Cost to Income Ratio contained at 29%, despite significant investments in human capital, IT, branding and infrastructure.
- The Bank’s Balance Sheet grew by 2.9% over December 2014 to QR 32,299 million, driven by growth in Loans and Advances.
- Total Loans and Advances stood at QR 24,045 million witnessing a year over year growth of 12.8%.
- Stable Funding consisting of Medium Term Borrowings increased by 34.9% to QR 2,237 million in December 2015 from QR 1,659 million in December 2014. Stable Funding as a percentage to Total Liabilities improved to 8.1% in December 2015 vis-à-vis 6.1% in December 2014.
- Non-Performing Loans ratio (NPL) stood at 1.24%, reflecting sound asset quality.
- The Return on Average Assets (ROAA) remained steady at 2.1%, indicating bank’s focus on earnings quality over growth.
- Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at a steady 15.1%, despite, a year over year increase in equity by 8.8%.