General Assembly of Qatar First Bank Approves Agenda Items
April 26, 2018
Qatar First Bank (QFB) held its Ordinary and
Extraordinary General Assembly meeting on 25 April 2018, at the
bank’s Headquarter QFB Lounge, to discuss and approve the bank’s
results and future outlook after releasing financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2017.
QFB’s Board of Directors, chaired by QFB
chairman Abdulla Bin Fahad Bin Ghorab Al Marri, along with
shareholders, Management team and other attendees, discussed and
approved, the bank’s audited financial results and the
performance for the previous year. Furthermore, the corporate
governance report was presented at the AGM. The EGM was
postponed to a date to be announced, to allow a sufficient
number of shareholders to approve the proposed Special
Resolutions.
Abdulla Bin Fahad Bin Ghorab Al Marri, QFB’s
Chairman, said:
“2017 was a challenging year for all
financial institutions in the country, amid the ongoing illegal
blockade imposed on Qatar by some neighboring GCC countries,
which impeded the flow of business both locally and regionally.
Qatar’s economy, however, has proven its resiliency and
robustness as it swiftly recovered from the effects of this
blockade, and continues to do so.
At QFB we are not immune to the prevailing
global and regional economic environment.
In 2017 the bank recorded a revenue of QR334.2 million
and a net loss of QR269.3 million, resulting mainly from the
downward revision of the valuations of some of the bank’s
private equity investments across several markets”
Nevertheless, QFB was able to complete some
successful exits, resulting in a gain of QR24 million, and the
bank’s investment portfolio continued to generate healthy
dividends (QR25.5 million), which was double that generated in
2016. In addition to
that, the bank’s income from financing assets increased by
QR12.6 million to QR82 million, while the bank had also been
able to improve the operational cost base of the Bank, resulting
in savings of QR25.6 million during 2017, particularly in terms
of human resources and other operating expenses.
Furthermore, QFB’s management continued
raising efficiency levels during 2017 through the implementation
of the cost rationalization plan that resulted in a reduction of
the staff expenses by 10.8% and other operating expenses by
20.7%, with an overall reduction of the expenses by 7.8%
compared to 2016.
QFB has also successfully completed the full
exit of Westbourne House and Amanat Holdings as well as the
partial exit of Avivo Group and Lion Air Indonesia at favorable
returns to our shareholders.
In line with the bank’s new strategy, QFB continues to
explore exit opportunities to realize value from our private
equity investments and gradually move to a less
capital-intensive business model.
Many of QFB’s portfolio companies have
performed well in 2017. David Morris has successfully continued
its expansion, opening new boutiques in Paris and Doha, with
further expansion expected in 2018.
Cambridge Medical & Rehabilitation Centre grew its
revenues by 39% and increased its profitability.
Some other companies witnessed less favorable results in
2017, amid the backdrop of macroeconomic developments that have
a direct impact on their financial performance.
Al Marri continued: “Despite the challenging
macroeconomic landscape that we have faced in 2017, QFB has made
progress towards its revised strategy. QFB is undergoing a
transformational shift from a proprietary based investment model
to having a diversified base of fee-based revenue streams.
On the back of this new strategy, QFB has already begun
generating fee income by offering client-focused investment
products, primarily in real estate and aviation”
During the year, new Qatari appointments were
made to the Bank’s senior management in line with QFB’s new
human resources strategy, to promote and attract Qatari talents
to work in QFB while building a sustainable work environment
that attracts a national workforce.
QFB also continued its action plan that focuses on
optimizing the bank’s resources and raising efficiency level by
implementing strict cost-cutting measures.
Al Marri concluded by expressing his sincere
appreciation and gratitude for the visionary leadership of His
Highness, the Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. He
continued by thanking the shareholders, regulators and
investment partners for their continued loyalty, patience, faith
and support and respected Shari’a Supervisory Board for their
wise counsel and guidance.
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