Qatar National Bank Quarterly Net Jumps 77% on Loans

By Arif Sharif

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Qatar National Bank SAQ, the Persian Gulf country's biggest bank, posted a 77 percent jump in third- quarter profit as income from lending surged.

Net income rose to 1.15 billion riyals ($315 million) from 649.2 million riyals a year earlier. Profit beat EFG-Hermes Holding SAE's estimate of 1.12 billion riyals and Global Investment House's prediction of 967.8 million riyals. Bloomberg News calculated the earnings by subtracting six-month data from nine-month figures provided by the Doha, Qatar-based bank in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.

Net interest income more than doubled in the quarter to 945.8 million riyals, while fee and commission income grew 34 percent to 274.6 million riyals.


The results are ``good'' and revenue is ``a little above our expectations,'' Chandresh Bhatt, an analyst at Kuwait-based Global, said in a phone interview today. ``Its fundamentals are strong.'' Bhatt recommends buying the shares.

Qatar, the smallest of four Gulf Arab oil producers that are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is benefiting from record oil prices that are boosting growth. The country's economy will double in size to about $100 billion in the next five years as the Persian Gulf emirate invests in infrastructure and developing its gas reserves, Finance Minister Yousef Hussain Kamal said last year.

Sustained Growth

The results reflect ``the sustained growth in activities across business lines in Qatar and abroad,'' Ali Shareef Al- Emadi, Qatar National's group chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Qatar National Bank's shares fell 5.3 percent to 140 riyals at 11:25 a.m. on the Doha Securities Market, compared with a 7.5 percent decline in the market's benchmark index. The shares have fallen 15 percent this year.

Profit in the nine months to September jumped 62 percent to 3 billion riyals. The bank's gains from foreign currency trading climbed 83 percent to 249.9 million riyals while profit from its Islamic banking unit, QNB Al Islami, rose 148 percent to 253.3 million riyals.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net