Qatar Islamic Bank posts 20.9% jump in Q1 profit

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the Gulf state's second-largest lender by market value, posted a 20.9 percent jump in first-quarter net profit, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bank made a net profit of QR388m ($106.6m), compared with QR321m a year earlier.

Total assets reached QR59bn by end of the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 18.4 percent compared to same period in 2011, the statement said.

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani, QIB chairman, said: "The results of the first quarter show that we are on track to deliver on our business strategy for 2012.

"We will continue to develop and launch innovative products and services that meet our customers' needs."

He added: "These first quarter results indicate that 2012 promises to be a year of continued growth, one that lives up to the aspirations and expectations of the bank's shareholders and customers. Our primary objective remains to enhance QIB's position as the domestic leader in Islamic finance."

In December, Qatar Islamic Bank said it was to acquire the sharia-compliant corporate portfolio of International Bank of Qatar(IBQ).

The agreement will see IBQ's Islamic corporate financing facilities and its deposit accounts transferred to Qatar's largest sharia-compliant bank by assets. No value for the acquisition was given.

The move came ahead of the December 31 deadline, imposed by the Qatar central bank, for conventional banks to stop offering sharia-compliant banking services amid worries of overlaps between the two.