Commercial Bank of Qatar reports 7% increase in first quarter profit

Dubai: Commercial Bank of Qatar on Wednesday said it will focus on growing its international operations as domestic growth is under pressure after the lender reported a 7 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit.

CBQ’s first-quarter net profit rose to 506 million Qatari riyals (Dh510 million, $139 million) from 471 million riyals in the year-ago period, according to an emailed statement. Customer loans and advances grew 22 per cent to 51.4 billion riyals, while customers’ deposits rose 22 per cent to 46.2 billion riyals. The result was below the 535 million riyals forecast of Beltone but above the 445 million riyals EFG Hermes had pencilled in.

“We will remain focused in 2013 on growing our core domestic businesses whilst developing our international alliance businesses in Oman and in the UAE, alongside our future new partnership in Turkey,” said chairman Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Attiyah.

CBQ last month acquired a 71 per cent stake in Turkey’s Alternatifbank, the latest Qatari lender to buy assets abroad to offset tepid growth at home.

“In line with our expectations, the Qatar market has seen limited growth in either the public or private sector during the period with competitive pricing dynamics continuing to place pressure on margins,” said chief executive Andrew Stevens.

“We are optimistic that domestic demand will increase in the latter part of the year. Our strategy remains to focus on developing and diversifying our income, and position the bank to continue to grow both domestically and internationally,” he said.

CBQ shares closed trading Wednesday up 0.8 per cent at 65 riyals.