- Record revenues and operating profit since inception
- Well-diversified revenues across multiple geographies and sectors
- Advised on several international landmark deals and transactions
- 2017 outlook is positive and a number of transactions and investments are underway
QInvest, Qatar's leading investment bank and one of the region’s prominent Islamic financial institutions, today announced its results for 2016, which demonstrated another year of growth and positive performance. Revenues increased 6% to QAR416 million (US$114 million), operating profits increased 3% to QAR220 million (US$60 million), and assets increased by 5% to QAR4,688 million (US$1,288 million).
Revenues during the year came from across all three business lines – investment banking, principal investments and asset management. They were generated from a variety of activities including advisory services, financing activities, private equity and fund investments, in addition to fees from discretionary managed accounts. These revenues were also generated across multiples geographies, which demonstrated the diversity and strength of all of the business lines. QInvest also executed several deals, advised and co-advised on a number of landmark transactions, entered new partnerships and invested in existing and new assets.
QInvest reported QAR22.5 million (US$6.2 million) in net profits attributed to shareholders following a prudent provisioning policy that will enable the Firm to absorb any unpredictable market shocks without interruption to its business. The overall health of the Firm remains strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 36% and cash and cash equivalents remaining at higher levels than 2015, exceeding QAR 687 million (US$189 million).
H.E. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of QInvest’s Board of Directors commented:
“The economic uncertainty and geopolitical changes during 2016 affected markets across the world. QInvest’s investments were impacted by this challenging environment, however, the de-risking measures we have put in place, including the setting of higher provision rates, enabled the Firm to counter-balance the impact on its portfolio. Our team continued to implement our strategy, which we launched three years ago, focusing on diversification and risk-adjusted returns. We remain committed to this approach during 2017”.
Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari, Chief Executive Officer of QInvest, said:
“The market environment during 2016 presented a mix of challenges which we managed to successfully navigate and achieve positive operating performance. We are pleased with the growth of our revenues and operating profit. It demonstrated the effectiveness of our diversification strategy, especially during the ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.”
Al-Kawari added:
“Looking into 2017, we started the year with an active book of funded investments and a healthy pipeline of deals. We have also been working on structuring new investment opportunities across a number of different asset classes, in particular in the international real estate market, debt and equity investments, and funds. We will update the market on these new investments in due course.”
QInvest continues to invest in the business for the future, selectively investing across different sectors and markets where there are opportunities for growth. In addition, more investors have been looking outside the
region for investment diversification purposes, where, QInvest has a highly successful track record and can provide investors with access to international investment opportunities.
During 2016, QInvest worked on some of the most exciting and prominent deals, acting as financial co-advisor for Colony Capital and the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) on their disposal of Miramax, which was acquired by the beIN Media Group and acting as Financial Advisor for QIA on its acquisition of a 9.9% interest in Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. Other highlights during the last year include acting as Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner on Kuveyt Turk’s two issuances, a US$500m senior Sukuk and a US$350m Tier II Sukuk. In addition, QInvest also acted as Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner on Ezdan Holding Group’s debut US$500m Sukuk and was mandated as Lead Arranger for Boyner Group’s US$90m Murabaha Agreement and Term Facility Agreement.
QInvest also completed the integration of Ergo Portfoy into its business and rebranded it as “QInvest Portfoy”. Assets under management (AUM) reached QAR2.7 billion (US$749 million). The Firm received a 3 star Morningstar rating for the QInvest GAM Sharia’a Fund and a 4 star Morningstar rating for the EFH Global Sukuk Plus Fund and also won several awards including “Most Outstanding Islamic Fund Management Firm 2016” in the 2016 Global Fund Awards.