Doha – Mubasher: Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) said its shareholders approved 5% bonus shares on a 1-for-20 basis for fiscal year 2016, according to a bourse statement.

The bank’s profits declined 64.3% to QAR 500.75 million in 2016, compared to QAR 1.4 billion in 2015.

During their ordinary general meeting (OGM), the shareholders approved the launch of a global medium term notes (GMTN) programme to be issued into the US markets for up to $2 billion with a maximum maturity of 30 years.

The potential GMTN programme was also approved in the general meeting held on 23 March 2016, but was not required for funding in the past year.

The shareholders also approved the issue of one or more global programmes for the issue of certificates of deposit, US and/or European commercial paper in different currencies up to a maximum amount of $5 billion, with a maximum maturity of up to five years minus one day.

The issue of debt notes for up to $1.5bn under the euro medium term note programme was also approved, with a maximum maturity of 30 years, either through a private placement or a regular issue in the financial markets.

The shareholders gave the go-ahead to a 5% increase in the company’s capital to QAR 4.047 billion from QAR 3.85 billion.