Qatar National Bank's Profits Decrease by 4%

Qatar National Bank, the largest Gulf bank by assets, announced on Monday a 4% decline in its net profits for the second quarter to 3.7 billion Qatari rials (1.02 billion USD). Refinitiv data showed that the results of Qatar National Bank fell short of analysts' average estimates, which predicted a net profit of 3.9 billion rials for this quarter. The bank did not provide a reason for the decline in second-quarter profits but mentioned that it set aside provisions amounting to 4.7 billion rials "as a precautionary measure to safeguard the group from any potential loan losses, which contributed to achieving a coverage ratio for non-performing loans of 99%, reflecting the group's continued conservative approach towards distressed loans." The bank's net profit for the first half of the year reached 7.6 billion rials, an increase of 8% compared to the first half of 2022. Total assets at the end of June rose by 7% year-on-year to just over 1.2 trillion rials, while loans and advances increased by 7% to 819 billion rials.