QNB's nine-month net profit rises 4% to QAR 13.3bn, or 8% before hyperinflation

Qatar National Bank (QNB Group) reported net profit of QAR 13.3 billion for the nine months to 30 September 2026, up 4 per cent on a year earlier, according to its results release of 8 October. Before the impact of hyperinflation accounting, nine-month profit was QAR 16.4 billion, up 8 per cent, the release said.

The difference between the two profit lines is QAR 3.1 billion, a Boards and Capital calculation from the figures in the release, which does not break the adjustment down by subsidiary or country. Hyperinflation accounting restates results in an economy with very high cumulative inflation into current purchasing power, and the charge it produced over nine months was close to a fifth of the pre-adjustment profit on the same arithmetic.

The balance sheet grew faster than reported profit. Operating income rose 8 per cent to QAR 36 billion, total assets rose 5 per cent to QAR 1,464 billion and loans and advances rose 6 per cent to QAR 1,061 billion, while customer deposits grew 2 per cent to QAR 979 billion, according to the release. On those figures loans were equal to about 108 per cent of customer deposits at the end of September, a Boards and Capital calculation. Total equity rose 10 per cent to QAR 134 billion and earnings per share were QAR 1.37.

Ratios in the release

The group gave a cost-to-income ratio of 24.3 per cent, which the release said is "considered one of the best ratios among large financial institutions in the MEA region". Non-performing loans were 2.7 per cent of gross loans, which it called "one of the lowest amongst financial institutions in the MEA region", and loan loss coverage was 97 per cent, the release shows.

The capital adequacy ratio was 19.7 per cent. The liquidity coverage ratio was 145 per cent and the net stable funding ratio 108 per cent, both above the requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel III, according to the release. It does not give a common equity tier 1 ratio, a cost of risk or a split of profit by geography. The group lists a September 2026 investor presentation on its investor presentations page; the figures in this article are taken from the release.

What the earnings call added

A summary of the earnings call published by GuruFocus on 14 October, a secondary source, attributed the answers on the call to Durraiz Khan, senior vice-president for group financial consolidation. According to that summary, the bank revised its 2026 guidance to profit growth of 4 to 6 per cent, loan growth of 5 to 7 per cent, deposit growth of 3 to 4 per cent and asset growth of 5 to 7 per cent. The summary is inconsistent on how large the revision was, so that figure is not reported here.

The same summary put the expected full-year net interest margin at 260 to 265 basis points and cost of risk at 70 to 75 basis points. It said the quarter's margin eased because of deposit costs after the latest US Federal Reserve increase, with asset repricing expected in the first quarter of 2027. It said the increase in non-performing loans in the quarter came "almost entirely from Turkey, driven by high nominal and real rates", and that domestic Qatari loan growth was 2 to 3 per cent.

For the Turkish business, the summary listed local-currency guidance of 10 to 15 per cent profit growth, 30 to 35 per cent loan growth and 25 to 30 per cent deposit growth. Those figures are management guidance as reported by a third party and do not appear in the bank's release.

What the release does not say

The release carries no statement from the chairman or the board and does not give a third-quarter figure on its own, so the quarterly trend cannot be read from it. It also does not say which part of the group generated the hyperinflation adjustment. Nine-month profit growth of 4 per cent sits at the bottom of the 4 to 6 per cent range given in the call summary. The full-year accounts, for the year ending 31 December 2026, are the next document that will test that guidance.