COMM BK QA 'S' : The Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.) Announces Financial Resu...

Mr. Joseph Abraham, Commercial Bank's Group Chief Executive Officer, commented, 'The first half of the year has demonstrated we are on the right track with the implementation of our Strategic Reshape plan, positioning the Bank for future growth.

'At a Group level, interest income increased 6% to QAR 2.4 billion, while operating profit before provisioning increased 7.8% to QAR 1.1 billion, as compared to the same period last year. Net profit for the six months to 30 June 2017 was QAR 179.6 million, a result which was affected by our prudent provisioning against Commercial Bank's loan portfolio.'

'Investment and securities increased 22.4% to QAR 18.8 billion, driven mainly by increased investments in government bonds. Customer deposits increased 3.2% to QAR 74.4 billion.'

'Our lending remains strong, with an 8% growth overall, while Commercial Bank's domestic loans and advances increased by 10.7%, demonstrating the benefits of our diversified loan book.'

'In line with our strategy, we've also achieved good cost control across our operations, with operating expenses down 16.4% as compared to H1 2016. Consequently, our cost to income ratio has further improved to 38.9% in H1 2017 as compared to 45.1% for the same period in 2016. Similarly for the Domestic Bank we have improved the cost to income ratio to 34.5% in H1 2017 as compared to 37.6% for the same period in 2016.'

'ABank delivered solid growth in Turkey, showing progress in delivering on the key commitments in our Strategic Reshape. Net Interest income was up 19.8% to TL 224 million (QAR 224.3 million), while a reduced level of provisioning helped drive up Net Profit to TL 53.7 million (QAR 53.8 million) compared to a loss of TL 57.8 million in the first half of 2016.'

'For our Associates, NBO reported a profit of QAR 246.3 million, while UAB continued to focus on its business reshape plan and delivered a profit of QAR 54.6 million.'

'Our results are underpinned by the team's commitment to innovation and digital transformation. The future of banking is increasingly digital and Commercial Bank is at the forefront of this change. The first half of the year has seen Commercial Bank deliver on our digital transformation agenda through such initiatives as the:

• First in market 60 second online remittance service, greatly reducing the end to end process time for clients. Initial launch to Indian bank accounts, with progressive roll out to other countries
• First in market launch of electronic 'e-Gifts' allowing clients to instantly send electronic cash gifts with a personal greeting to family and friends (both CB and non-CB clients), cash can be transferred or withdrawn from CB ATM's
• First Board of Directors electronic voting system in Qatar, allowing us to simplify and accelerate the voting process
• Rollout of 'CB Smart' wifi and tablets across CB offices, supporting paperless meetings and, together with digital signature and digital archiving initaitives, reducing internal waste, improving productivity and the speed of decision making.
• First Blockchain pilot in Qatar, completed with our regional partner banks, this innovative new technology in fund transfers has huge potential to transform the sector'

'Commercial Bank has been recognized with several market leading awards, including two prestigious awards at The Asian Banker's International Excellence in Retail Financial Services 2017 Awards Ceremony held in Dubai.'

'Commercial Bank was awarded the 'Best Retail Bank in Qatar,' in recognition of our strong personalized approach to banking, with high levels of customer service and innovation. We were also awarded the 'SME Bank of the Year in the Middle East,' in support of our specialized banking services for Small and Medium Enterprise Business customers.'

'Our Visa Signature Credit Card for SMEs has been awarded the 'Best New Product in Qatar for 2016' by Visa, Inc. The award was made in recognition of Commercial Bank's innovation to introduce a customised product to meet the needs of the market. The Visa award follows another award win for the same Credit Card from The Banker Middle East magazine in January'.
Subsidiary in Turkey
Alternatifbank ('ABank') delivered a net profit of TL 53.7 million (QAR 53.8 million) for the half year ended 30 June 2017 (TL 57.8 million loss for the same period in 2016).

Net operating income increased by TL 71.3 million to TL 271.1 million (QAR 271.4 million) for the half year ended 30 June 2017, from TL 199.9 million (QAR 249.3 million in 2016), due to increase in net interest income, net fee and commission income and net foreign exchange income. As at 30 June 2017, ABank had increased its customer lending by 16.4% to TL 11.7 billion (QAR 12.2 billion) from TL 10.1 billion (QAR 12.7 billion) in June 2016.
Customers' deposits increased by 15.1% to TL 8.3 billion (QAR 8.6 billion) during the first half of the year, compared to TL 7.2 billion (QAR 9.1 billion) during the same period last year.