OCBC knocked off its top spot as the world's strongest bank

Guess which bank topped Bloomberg's list?

Accoring to a statement, Bloomberg Markets, the leading provider of Business, Financial and Economic news has released its 2012 ranking of the World’s Strongest Banks, in which QNB has ranked as Number 1. The 2012 ranking included 78 banks worldwide, with QNB being the only bank in the MENA Region.

Commenting on the 2012 ranking Mr. Ali Shareef Al Emadi, QNB’s GCEO stated “we are very pleased with QNB being ranked on the top of the list of the strongest banks in the world by Bloomberg. This is a clear indication of the strengths of the bank”.

The 78 banks included in Bloomberg’s ranking included some of the largest and most renowned financial institutions in the world. The ranking is based on five criteria for banks with Total Assets of over US$100 billion: Tier 1 Capital to Risk Weighted Assets with 40% weight, Non-Performing Assets to Total Assets with 20% weight, Loan Loss Reserve to Non-Performing Assets with 20% weight, Deposits to Funding with 15% weight, and Efficiency (Cost to Revenue) with 5% weight.

QNB entered the ranking for the first time, as its level of Total Assets surpassed the US$100 billion in 2012; the threshold of being included in the list. Bloomberg ranked banks on each criterion and the ranking positions were weighted and combined to determine the banks’ overall score.

QNB Group has witnessed a strong growth in the past five years across the range of business activities with an expanded presence in the region and in select markets; all part of its 2017 Strategy of being the Top Bank in the Middle East and Africa region.

Despite achieving a strong growth of 30% in Loans per year in the five years ending in 2012, QNB has maintained one the lowest non-performing assets with the highest coverage ratio amongst all banks in the Bloomberg’s ranking.

This is a clear reflection of the successful outcome of the conservative approach towards risk adopted by QNB Group. At the same time, QNB has recorded a 27% increase in Net Profit per year in the past five years, allowing it to be the most profitable financial institution in the Middle East and North Africa region. In fact, for 2012 QNB has also the top ranking for loans, deposits and shareholders’ equity for banks in the MENA region.

On QNB Group expansion plans, Mr. Al Emadi commented “With the entry into Egypt, we are currently operating in 25 countries around the world, while just less than 10-years ago our international presence was limited to two overseas branches – London and Paris. While National Societe General Bank in Egypt represents the most significant acquisition to date, we have solidified our stake in a number of institutions in the past two years including QNB – Tunis, Bank of Commerce and Development in Libya, Commercial Bank International in the UAE and Mansour Bank in Iraq. We have also acquired a controlling stake in Bank Kesawan in Indonesia, which has been rebranded to QNB – Kesawan”.