Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, has affirmed the Long Term Foreign Currency and Short Term Foreign Currency ratings of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) at ‘A+’ and ‘A1’ respectively, with stable outlook.

As per the CI report: “The rating is supported by strong asset quality, strong profitability at both the operating and net levels, and strong capitalization. Non-financial supporting factors include a strong franchise and market position as the leading Islamic Bank in Qatar and as the second largest Bank in the system.”

The report cited: “QIB’s profitability is strong, and earnings quality is good, and it has been posting consistent results. Its profitability was better than sector average, supported by its broadly stable net financing margins, which has remained above average, and continued efficiency gains with cost-income ratio on a declining trend, having reached what is a low level by international standards.”

The report continued:” QIB’s asset quality is solid and stable, while credit loss absorption capacity is strong. The non-performing financing (NPF) ratio was moderate and maintained at just close to one percent, much better than its peers. The Bank remains more than fully covered in terms of financing loss reserves. QIB is strongly capitalized – and the quality of capital is good. QIB has a good liquidity profile. It is largely funded by customer deposits, mainly by diversified and stable retail deposits with its dependence on foreign funding being relatively low.”