#Qatar National Bank's first-quarter net profit falls 7% as provisions climb | Reuters

Qatar National Bank's first-quarter net profit falls 7% as provisions climb | Reuters

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the biggest lender in the Gulf, said on Sunday its first quarter net profit fell by 7% from a year earlier to 3.3 billion riyals ($906 million) as it booked 1.4 billion riyals in “precautionary” loan loss provisions.

The bank’s total assets grew by 8% from a year earlier to 1.042 trillion riyals at the end of March, the bank said in a statement. That growth was mainly due to a 2% increase in loans advances to 721 billion riyals.

QNB’s ratio of non-performing loans rose to 2.2% at the end of the quarter from 1.9% at the end of March 2020.

It said its loan to deposit ratio of 96.1% was “healthy” and complemented by conservative credit underwriting in the first quarter.