Best bank: Qatar National Bank
Qatar National Bank (QNB)’s scale and banking power in the country seem unassailable across all banking businesses. It dominates activity, reporting more assets ($338 billion), loans ($234 billion), deposits ($235 billion) and net profit at the end of last year than that generated in each segment by all four of the other largest banks combined.
Net profit hit $4.26 billion in 2023 – up 8% on the year before and a five-year high – on operating income of $10.75 billion (up 11%), and net interest income of $8.36 billion (up 5%).
Such growth comes with tightly managed cost controls (QNB has a cost-to-income ratio of 20%), a manageable non-performing loan ratio (3% of gross loans at the end of last year), and a robust capital position (19.8% capital adequacy ratio).
In addition, QNB generated a return on average assets of 1.3% and a return on average equity of 17.7% – the sort of levels banks in other regions would be envious of.
Best investment bank: QNB Capital
QNB Capital wins the award for best investment bank in Qatar in recognition of its role on several key advisory and capital-raising transactions across the year, and for leading the development of sustainable finance in the country.
Among several notable transactions QNB worked on in 2023, a clear standout was its mandate as sole listing adviser on Dukhan Bank’s QR22.8 billion ($6.3 billion) direct listing on the Qatar Stock Exchange; one of the biggest listings in the country in recent years and the first financial institution to complete the process under the new offering and listing regime of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority.
The stock of the bank, the country’s third-largest Islamic bank and one of the fastest growing in the sector, started trading in late February, opening-up a new funding channel to support future growth and development.
QNB Capital was also active in debt capital markets, and especially in sukuk format. One of the key deals the bank worked on in 2023 was Qatar Islamic bank’s $500 million five-year sukuk, the first international DCM issuance from the issuer since 2020.
QNB was bookrunner on the deal, which attracted an investor orderbook of $3.3 billion.
QNB has also been leading the development of sustainable finance in the country. At the end of last year, the group had provided $8.5 billion in sustainable lending, with $3.2 billion of that in green loans, $4.7 billion in social loans, and the remainder in sustainability-linked loans.
To help fund this lending, QNB has pioneered the issuance of green bonds in Qatar. The group sold its – and the country’s – first green benchmark bond in 2020, a transaction that was also the largest in the format by a financial institution in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Best international investment bank: JPMorgan
JPMorgan has been involved in key M&A advisory work in Qatar over the review period.
It acted as a financial adviser to Mayhoola during its strategic sale of a 30% stake in fashion house Valentino to Kering, and acted as exclusive financial adviser to the Qatar Investment Authority in its minority investment in Monumental Sports & Entertainment. This deal marked the first investment by a sovereign wealth fund in US team sports.
Best digital bank: Qatar Islamic Bank
Qatar Islamic Bank has launched several new digital products this year.
Over 50% of total sales volume for key retail products such as personal financing and credit cards is now driven through the bank’s mobile app. It has also launched its Lite App, a multilingual, simplified version of the original as part of the bank’s wider efforts to improve financial inclusion.
QIB has also rolled out Himyan, the prepaid card launched by Qatar’s central bank to support national initiatives and promote financial inclusion.
In payments, the bank upgraded its mPay digital wallet by integrating a request-to-pay feature, simplifying money transfers and enabling expense splitting among users. It has also introduced QIB SoftPOS for Android smartphones.
Together with Visa and ecolytiq, it has introduced a carbon-emission tracker feature, allowing users to monitor and manage their carbon footprints related to card expenditures.
Best bank for SMEs: Qatar Islamic Bank
Qatar Islamic Bank has enhanced its payment offering to small and medium-sized enterprise clients in Qatar.
It has improved its merchant acquiring system by adding point-of-sale solutions and an online payment gateway. It introduced its SoftPOS app in partnership with Mastercard. The service accepts contactless transactions from payment cards with EMV chips, as well as near-field communication-enabled phones and wearables for Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Middle East’s best bank for ESG: Qatar National Bank
Across the region, many banks have stepped-up efforts to finance their clients’ increasing investment in sustainability, but also to transform their own operations with a harder focus on integrating environmental, social and governance factors.
Most banks in the region can demonstrate activity in this area, but Qatar-based QNB has made particular progress. The bank had a landmark year in ESG, five years after it first launched its sustainability strategy and framework.
It rolled out its new sustainable finance product framework – with a second-party opinion by corporate advisory firm ISS-Corporate – which expanded the eligible range of ESG-themed and related sustainable-finance products and services. These include green, social, ESG-linked, sustainable and transition financing.
QNB’s sustainable financing portfolio grew to $9 billion equivalent last year, comprising $3.53 billion in green loans – up from $2.85 billion in 2022 – $4.52 billion in social loans and $820 million in sustainability-linked loans, up from $581 million.
The bank placed $200 million in green interbank deposits last year, a first for Qatar.
Turkey-based subsidiary QNB Finansbank eliminated its financing exposure to coal last year and launched a green transformation package, which, together with providing corporate customers with a reduced-rate loan to finance environmental-focused investments, provides them with access to a platform to calculate their carbon footprint.
Egypt-based QNB Alahli, in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, launched Egypt’s first green retail financing programme, providing 10% cashback on consumer loans when used to purchase energy-efficient, environmentally friendly products.
QNB has some of the highest ESG ratings among banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council and is practicing what it preaches in its own operations and across its supply chain. It supports equality, diversity and inclusion across its workforce and deploys energy-efficient measures across its estate.
Best bank for ESG: Qatar National Bank
Qatar National Bank’s sustainable finance portfolio had reached $9 billion by the end of 2023. This comprises $3.4 billion in green initiatives, $4.5 billion in social projects and $1.1 billion in sustainability-linked facilities.
The lender has also introduced new sustainable financing products such as green vehicle loans and its first green retail financing programme.
The bank calculates that its debut $600 million green bond will result over its lifetime in 486,072 tons of CO2-equivalent avoided emissions. It will also contribute to conserving 744,682 megawatt-hours of electricity and treating 26,078,467 cubic meters of wastewater over its tenor.
Best bank for corporate responsibility: Qatar Islamic Bank
Qatar Islamic Bank has demonstrated commitment to corporate social responsibility through initiatives in, notably, healthcare and community support.
The lender organized two blood-donation drives at its headquarters and collaborated with its longstanding partner Hamad Medical Corporation to provide its workforce with screening, testing and awareness sessions.
The bank has also partnered with Qatar-based charity Feeding the Fast on its Ramadan project, delivering 12,000 daily iftar meals to low-income workers.
Best bank for diversity & inclusion: Qatar National Bank
Qatar National Bank has instituted several initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion.
Its Mobile Money Wallet is designed to target the unbanked population and supports Qatar’s Worker Protection Scheme by ensuring timely salary payments.
The wallet covers remittance payments, mobile top-ups, peer-to-peer payments and cash withdrawals.
As of the end of December 2023, the service had over 550,000 active wallets, driving transactions worth QR23 billion ($6.3 billion).
The bank has also dedicated $4.5 billion for eligible social financing projects as of December 31, 2023.
Women hold 24% of senior management roles at the bank and make up 20% of the executive management team. The lender’s gender pay ratio stood at 0.92, indicating near parity between median female and male salaries across the bank’s operations.
Best bank for corporates: HSBC
HSBC has been active across project finance, trade finance and corporate lending in Qatar this year.
The bank worked on the $4.4 billion infrastructure financing for the Ras Laffan petrochemicals project and was involved in financing the North Field oil expansion and the construction of a solar plant.
The latter transaction was important for the introduction of the first green supply-chain facility in Qatar.
Rising star: Dukhan Bank
Dukhan Bank has introduced several interesting digital initiatives this year while maintaining consistent profitability along with steady growth in customer deposits.
Total assets grew 8% year on year to QR114.4 billion ($31.3 billion), while customer deposits were up 5% to QR78 billion. Net profit of QR1.3 billion was up 4% on 2022.
The bank has focused on digital innovation and has launched several new services such as Himyan, a prepaid card launched by the Qatar central bank to promote financial inclusion, along with eco-friendly vehicle finance options.
The bank introduced the first prepaid digital card in Qatar on its mobile app, and was the first partner in Qatar to join Mastercard’s global Digital First Card programme.
It has also rolled out its Smart Kiosk, a 24/7 service allowing instant card printing and has integrated Apple Pay, Samsung Wallet and Google Pay into its payment platform.
The bank’s omnichannel banking platform offers features such as flight booking and car rental, along with lifestyle services such as checking prayer times, Qibla direction, Athkar and weather forecasts.
