His Excellency Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha Bank, announced Doha Bank’s financial results for the first quarter of 2016. Net profit for the first quarter of 2016 recorded QAR 354 million. The bank sustained the core income as the net operating income is marginally up by 0.4% as compared to same period in 2015. H.E. Sheikh Fahad said The Bank’s core revenue streams have shown strong growth over the prior year period reflecting on the Bank’s intrinsic strength towards recurring earning capacity and also on the Bank’s productive operational performance.”

Total assets increased by QAR 10.5 billion, a growth of 14.2%, from QAR 74.2 billion as at 31 March 2015 to QAR 84.7 billion as at 31 March 2016. Net Loans & Advances increased to QAR 56.9 billion from QAR 50.8 billion for the same period last year, registering a growth of 11.8%. Deposits showed a year on year increase of 13.7% from QAR 45.2 billion to QAR 51.4 billion as at 31 March 2016 which is evidence of the strong liquidity position of the Bank.

H.E. Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank said “The Bank has become extremely strong over the years with total equity, as at 31 March 2016, at QAR 12.8 billion, registering an increase of 19.6% during the last twelve months. Through the strategic utilization of the shareholder’s funds by way of increasing our performance levels the return on average shareholders’ equity is 15.9% as at 31 March 2016 one of the best in the industry. The Bank, given the scale of operations, has achieved a very high return on the average assets of 1.69% as at 31 March 2016 which is a clear demonstration of the effective utilization of shareholder’s funds and optimum asset allocation strategies”.

Throwing light on the key innovations, achievements and initiatives by Doha Bank in the first quarter of 2016, Dr. R. Seetharaman, said “In testament to Doha Bank’s commitment to offer customers, the latest in digital banking and as another proud ‘first’ for Qatar, Doha Bank launched ‘Biometric Access’ for mobile banking application. The new enhanced version of Doha Bank mobile banking application offers users the option of using fingerprints to authenticate identities to sign in to mobile banking – instead of user ID and password. The other new features introduced in the application also include local fund transfer, D-Cardless withdrawals, Western Union Money Transfer, remittances through credit card, click card reload etc in addition to its extensive list of services.” Doha Bank recently won the ‘Product of the Year in Middle East 2016 for Doha Bank’s Mobile Banking Experience’ from ‘The Asian Banker’ in recognition of the superior service offered through the mobile banking application. Also, on account of displaying best practice and transparency in investor relations, Doha Bank was awarded as the best Qatari company for ‘Excellence in Investor Relations’ under the mid-cap category.

In yet another year of offering life-changing rewards and opportunities for its customers, Doha Bank offered various limited period offers such as ‘0% payment plans’, ‘free cabin bag’ and ‘complementary gift vouchers’ in coordination with popular merchants for all its credit card customers. In recognition of Doha Bank’s ability to maintain strong growth trajectory, total asset growth, loan growth and deposit growth year-on-year, Doha Bank’s credit ratings were re-affirmed by various credit rating agencies.

During the quarter, Doha Bank also held an economic knowledge sharing session in Dubai on the topic ‘Changing Dynamics and Market Opportunities’. This was preceded by another knowledge sharing session on ‘Growing opportunities in Qatar’ which was held in Doha, Qatar, which was well attended by senior Bankers and dignitaries. These knowledge sharing sessions, not only help in creating awareness on the changing market dynamics, but also promote the bilateral relationship between GCC, India and various countries in which Doha Bank has its presence.

As part of Doha Bank’s commitment to society, environment and raise awareness of sustainable development issues, Doha Bank organized the 11th edition of ‘Al Dana Green Run’ in January 2016 wherein as many as 5000 residents had taken part in the run, while thousands of residents turned up to support the event. The Al Dana Green Run is organized annually by Doha Bank to spread awareness among the people about the fragile ecosystem that we live in and to encourage everyone to adopt sustainable practices to maintain a better ecological balance.

Doha Bank in coordination with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and Al Wakrah Municipality hosted a clean-up campaign at the Al Wakrah beach. Organized under the theme, “Save the Beaches for the Future,” the campaign was led by Doha Bank volunteer staff members and the management, who joined efforts to remove litter from the beach. This initiative was aimed at highlighting the importance of beaches in Qatar’s ecological sustenance and in supporting aquatic life, while inspiring community effort towards keeping public spaces free of waste and pollutants.