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 half of 2016. Net profit for the first half of 2016 recorded QAR 708 million despite the sharp decline in the oil prices in the Gulf area and the challenges that face the financial markets in various countries of the world. The bank sustained the core income as the net operating income is up by 0.7% 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 4.6 billion, a growth of 5.6%, from QAR 82.7 billion as at 30 June 2015 to QAR 87.4 billion as at 30 June 2016. Net Loans & Advances increased to QAR 55.4 billion from QAR 53.1 billion for the same period last year, registering a growth of 4.5%. Deposits showed a year on year increase of 1.3% from QAR 51.7 billion to QAR 52.4 billion as at 30 June 2016 which is evidence of the strong liquidity position of the Bank.

His Excellency added: “Different economies in the world are currently facing challenges. Moreover, the sharp decline of the oil prices during the last period has made the matter more complicated, and in spite of all these circumstances, the Qatari economy is still strong and coherent, and we are confident that under the wise leadership of His Highness/ Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thami, Emir of Qatar, State of Qatar will face all of these challenges and the Qatari economy will remain strong and, not to mention the increasing number of the upcoming projects which will be reflected positively on the performance of Doha Bank and the Qatari banking system as a whole”.

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 30 June 2016, at QAR 13.1 billion, registering an increase of 0.1% during the last twelve months. Through the strategic utilisation of the shareholder’s funds by way of increasing our performance levels the return on average shareholders’ equity is 15.7% as at 30 June 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 1.66% as at 30 June 2016 which is a clear demonstration of the effective utilization of shareholder’s funds and optimum asset allocation strategies”.

Dr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, said “Doha Bank’s strong results highlights the strength of its vision and strategy to capitalize on market synergies in a challenging and competitive environment, ongoing customer demand as well as its strong suite of products and services. Recently, Doha Bank held an Ordinary General Assembly of Shareholders, wherein it was unanimously agreed for Doha Bank to issue Certificate of Deposits (CD) program and Commercial Papers (CP) program subject to necessary regulatory and other approvals. Subsequently, Doha Bank became the first Qatari Bank to tap the Taiwanese market on a loan syndication by successfully completing a syndicated borrowing with an overwhelming response securing USD 180 million for 3 Years with cost effective pricing.” Doha Bank had also distributed 30% of the paid up capital as cash dividend to the shareholders during the year.

For the 7th consecutive year, Doha Bank’s credit card holders are celebrating summer on the occasions of Ramadan and Eid season, through attractive rewards such as 10% cash back across all Qatar Duty Free (QDF), 5% cash back on all foreign currency transactions until July 31st 2016. This was also coupled with 3% cashback on all local spend in the month of June, reaffirming our commitment to customer satisfaction and loyalty. In celebration of the holy month of Ramadan, Doha Bank hosted Suhoor for its customers and partners as part of its annual tradition. Dr. R. Seetharaman further highlighted that “During the year, Doha Bank became the first Bank in Qatar to launch ‘Biometric Access’ for mobile banking application. The Doha Bank mobile application also includes new features such as 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 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.” Doha Bank upgraded its card processing system in order to provide faster system performance to ensure a better end-customer and cardholder experience as well as better safety through ‘credit card fraud guard module’, which is able to monitor fraudulent transactions to raise automatic alerts. During the Quarter, Doha Bank inaugurated its state of the art Branch in Al Gharafa as well as relocated its City Centre Mall Branch to the ground floor of the Mall. Doha Bank also 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.

It is also important to note that Doha Bank was recently awarded as the ‘Best Regional Commercial Bank’ at the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2016 for the fourth consecutive year. This was preceded by another award for being the best Qatari company for ‘Excellence in Investor Relations’ by Qatar Exchange under the mid-cap category on account of displaying best practice and transparency in investor relations.

During the year, Doha Bank promoted staff engagement through Long Service Awards. In order to create awareness on changing market dynamics as well as to promote the bilateral relationship between GCC, India and various countries in which Doha Bank has its presence, Doha Bank held economic knowledge sharing sessions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on the topic ‘Changing Dynamics and Market Opportunities’ preceded by another session on ‘Growing opportunities in Qatar’ held in Doha, Qatar, which were all well attended by business leaders and dignitaries.

In testament to Doha Bank’s strong commitment to society, environment and raise awareness of sustainable development issues, Doha Bank organized its annual ECO-Schools Programme Awards which saw 8 schools winning the prestigious award. In support of the Earth Day 2016, Doha Bank hosted Tree planting event in Dukhan. These events were preceded by 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. Doha Bank in coordination with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and Al Wakrah Municipality also hosted a clean-up campaign at the Al Wakrah beach under the theme, “Save the Beaches for the Future”.