Qatar's Quiet Summer Months

We are currently witnessing the annual Gulf summer slowdown as locals and expats travel during their annual leave. This year, the quiet period has been exacerbated by the GCC diplomatic fallout. Three of the GCC nations (together with Egypt) have imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar.

The banking sector is of course not exempt from both factors, with activity slowing down considerably over recent weeks.

Local banks have either disclosed or will soon begin disclosing their second quarter and half-yearly results and that would be an important time to assess how the market is faring in the current climate.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) recently disclosed its results for the six months ended the 30th June 2017. It stated that the results were the highest in the history of the QNB Group. Net profit reached QAR6.7 billion (US$1.79 billion), up by 7% compared with 2016, and total assets reached QAR768 billion (US$205.7 billion), up by 11% from June 2016, the highest ever achieved by the group.

In other news, Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) announced that international credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service has af‌f‌irmed QIIB's rating for the second consecutive year at 'A2'. QIIB CEO Abdulbasit Ahmad Al-Shaibe said: "QIIB's rating af‌f‌irmation at this good level is a natural reflection of the strength and high quality of the Qatari economy and an evidence of the confidence in the strength of this economy in various circumstances and against any unexpected developments...