Doha: Doha Bank QSC, Qatar's third-biggest bank by revenue, posted a less-than-expected drop in second-quarter profit after the country's sovereign wealth fund declined to take dividends.
Net income fell 5.4 per cent to 299.7 million riyals ($82.4 million), from 316.7 million riyals a year earlier, the bank said in a financial statement posted on the Qatar Exchange website yesterday.
That beat the mean estimate of 235.7 million riyals by three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The Qatar Investment Authority, holder of five per cent of the bank's share capital, relinquished its right to dividends, amounting to 43.1 million riyals, Doha Bank said.
"That 43 million has given a boost," said Janany Vamadeva, an analyst at HC Brokerage in Dubai who forecast second-quarter profit of 239 million riyals. "The Qatari banks are benefiting from liquidity because liquidity has improved."
Government support
Doha Bank, the second-worst performing lender after Qatar Islamic Bank on the QE Index of Qatari companies this year, has benefited from Qatari government support following the global economic downturn.
The bank said it received a 368.6 million-riyal capital injection from the QIA late last year. The government also agreed to purchase the equity and real estate portfolio of Doha Bank and other Qatari lenders.
Doha Bank may raise as much as $1 billion by selling bonds in the fourth quarter, Chief Executive Officer Raghavan Seetharaman said last month.
Doha Bank fell 0.7 per cent to 44.1 riyals on the Qatar Exchange yesterday, extending this year's decline to down 6.4 per cent.
Earnings were reported after the market closed.
