Al khaliji Reports Net Profit of QR 290.5 million in H1 2013

Doha, July 30 (QNA) - al khaliji (KCBK) announced its financial results for the first half of 2013, reporting a Net Profit of QR 290.5 million. This represents an increase of 11% over its financial results for the same period of last year. al khaliji continues to achieve a consistent growth in net profit quarter after quarter registering a growth of 21% over the previous quarter (Q1 2013).al Khaliji France S.A.s net profit was QR 39.4 million by end of June 2013, ), the bank said in a press release today. Commenting on the strong financial performance, Rob McCall, Group Chief Executive Officer of al khaliji said: "These results confirm the effectiveness in implementing our strategy for 2013 and beyond. We continue to build momentum to meet our set targets for 2013. This success is attributable to our diverse and prudent growth approach in ensuring that our customers expectations and requirements are not only met but exceeded." The Net Profit for the first half of this year stood at QR 290.5 million, 11% higher than the QR 261.9 million generated during the first half of 2012. A total of 83% of revenues continue to be generated mainly from the Qatar based conventional banking activities. The remaining 17% was generated from al Khaliji France S.A., its wholly owned subsidiary headquartered in Paris (France) with its four branches in four different emirates in the UAE. The Net Operating Income for H1 2013 was QR 515 million, 12% higher than H1 2012. The Investment income at QR 121 million is lower than H1 2012 by 22%. This result demonstrates once again that we are in line with our new strategy by reducing dependence on Investment income as we continue to grow our conventional business. Total assets increased by 17% compared to H1 2012 to reach QR 32.6 Billion. Total assets have declined by 3% this year. "This slight reduction in the first half of 2013 is due to the decrease in our investment securities portfolio as per our strategy. We are confident that our assets will witness a growth in the upcoming quarters driven by the growth in loans and advances to customers". added McCall al khaliji France S.A.s represented 11% of the groups total assets. Loans and advances for the first half of 2013 stood at QR 14.9 billion, 30% higher than the same period of the previous year and 14% higher comparing to end of December 2012. Deposits grew by 7 % to QR 18.6 billion in the first six months of 2013. Loans to deposits ratio was 81% at the end of June 2013. Earnings per share reached QR 0.81 for the first six months of this year, up 11% compared to the same period in 2012. The capital adequacy ratio was at 20.1% and Tier 1 capital ratio at 18.7%. By the end of June 2013, the non-performing loans were QR 60.2 million and our NPL ratio improved to 0.40%. For his side, HE Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director of al khaliji concluded: "al khaliji recorded a robust profit due to the added momentum of our refined medium term strategy. Linked to this our high liquidity and capital position together with our prudent risk management practices, has laid a solid foundation for future growth. Qatar continues to be a very attractive market for local, regional and international investors; and we remain well positioned, with our understanding of the Qatar banking sector, to capture future growth". (QNA)