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FITCH ASSIGNS DOHA BANK A LONG TERM RATING OF 'A' AND A SHORT TERM RATING OF 'F1'
Fitch Ratings, London conducted a full rating review of Doha Bank and assigned the bank a Foreign Currency Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A' and a Short-Term IDR of 'F1'.
H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Chairman of the Bank stated that the rating clearly confirmed the solid franchise and strong financial fundamentals of Doha Bank to meet the ever-growing requirements of its customers both in the local and the international market.
Fitch Ratings also assigned Doha Bank an Individual rating of 'C' and a Support Rating of '1'. All the ratings have a 'Stable' Outlook.
The LT rating 'A' assigned by Fitch denotes the 'high credit quality' and low credit risk of the bank. The 'F1' rating awarded by the agency for the short-term denotes the bank's strong capacity for meeting its financial commitments in a timely manner.
Justifying the high ratings assigned to Doha Bank, the rating agency further observed that 'Doha Bank's profitability is attributed to rising loan volumes and high margins achieved on its retail banking and private sector business with earnings reasonably diversified with the fee-based income contributing 20% of the operating income, a large portion of which appears recurring'. Fitch further stated that the lending of the bank is mainly to the retail segment (46% of the book) a high – yielding, relatively low-risk asset class.
Fitch Ratings further noted that the Individual Rating at 'C' reflects Doha Bank's strong domestic franchise, sound financials and the bank's strategy of international expansion in tandem with its improving asset quality and profitability indicators.
H.E. Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al Thani, the Managing Director of Doha Bank added that in line with the Board's vision to expand internationally, Doha Bank is committed to taking further action to expand its international presence in those countries which have trade links with the GCC in general and Qatar in particular.
The rating agency concluded that the Support Ratings at '1' reflects the high probability of support it would receive from the Qatari authorities in case of need and the Bank's systemic importance to the local market.
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