In a challenging year for Middle East lenders which saw impairments rise across the board, Qatar National Bank (QNB) just held onto the title of best-performing Middle East bank in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking for 2021.
QNB — whose profits dropped by more than 16% — saw its Tier 1 capital rise by 3.3% in 2020, compared with 10.4% the previous year.
Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), by contrast, experienced a watershed year, with profitability and asset quality coming in ahead of analyst expectations. Customer deposits rose by 17.8% while its loan book grew by 23%, benefiting from the country’s booming retail mortgage market. The bank saw a 16.7% rise in its Tier 1 capital base.
The merger with local rival Samba Financial Group should see NCB, in its combined form, overtake QNB as the region’s largest lender. The deal, announced in June 2020 and completed this April, creates an entity (subsequently rebranded as Saudi National Bank) with a Tier 1 capital base of around $35bn.
Saudi Arabian lenders are the main regional gainers in this year’s Top 1000, as loan books continued to rise healthily on the back of a state-sponsored drive for home ownership.
The country’s second largest lender Al Rajhi — which recorded the best return on capital of any Arab bank — rose from 115th place to 113rd in the overall Top 1000 rankings, with Banque Saudi Fransi rising from 175th place to 171th place on the back of a 17.6% rise in Tier 1 capital. Dubai Islamic Bank was the only other Arab gainer in the 2021 Top 1000, rising from 187th place to 167th place, thanks to its acquisition of local rival Noor Bank.
