Doha, Qatar: The Commercial Bank and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) announced yesterday its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2026.
The Group reported Net Profit before Pillar Two Tax of QR538.3m for Q1 2026. The year-on-year movement in profit was supported by resilient operating performance in the first quarter of 2026.
Net Operating Income increased by 7.6% to QR1,216.8m driven by increase in net interest income and fee income. This was offset by higher net provisions, increased operating expenses including IFRS 2 related long term incentive scheme (LTIS) movements, and a reported loss of QR25.7m from Turkish subsidiary taking into account the impact of hyper-inflation.
The Group is very focused on executing the next phase of its strategy which was announced in January and progress is being made across our core businesses. The retail and wealth business started the year strongly with good and consistent returns supported by growth in lending.
The Group strengthened its advisory-led offering through a new wealth management tool and hybrid advisory model, supporting fee income growth. On the wholesale banking side, the lending book grew in the core segments with clear focus on cross sell opportunities. The Group progressed to upgrade corporate channels, facilitating opening accounts digitally, and continued to build traction in digital solutions.
The associates continued to perform well as the Group continue to work closely with them in the execution of their strategies. Performance at Alternatif Bank in Turkey improved year on year at operating profit level.
However, the results at Alternatif Bank were impacted by hyperinflation accounting, as the Group continues to apply International Accounting Standard 29 (IAS 29) given that Turkey remains a hyperinflationary economy.
This quarter also reflects a more balanced approach of loan provisioning consistently throughout the year, rather than a significantly larger charge in the fourth quarter. This approach is in line with IFRS9 and prudent risk management.
On a normalized basis excluding the LTIS related movements, the adjusted Net Profit before Pillar Two Tax for the three months ended 31 March 2026 is QR559.1m.
The Group also accrued for the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Pillar Two Tax, a charge of QR36.9m.
Commercial Bank held its Annual General Meetings on 16 March 2026, during which shareholders approved all agenda items, including the Board’s recommendation to distribute a cash dividend of QR0.30 per share.
The current heightened geopolitical environment has resulted in uncertainty across the GCC, with direct impacts on energy supply and certain trade routes. Despite this backdrop, the Group has continued to operate resiliently, supported by its strong operating platform, established governance framework, and ongoing investment in digital capabilities including AI, which have enabled customers to maintain seamless and secure access to banking services.
Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, said, “Commercial Bank began 2026 with continued focus on prudent stewardship, sound governance and balance-sheet strength. In the current backdrop, our priorities remain firmly anchored in preserving financial strength, maintaining strong capital and liquidity, and continuing disciplined execution of our strategy to deliver sustainable long-term value creation. We remain confident in the strength of Qatar’s fundamentals, and the Bank’s ability to build steadily on its foundations in alignment with Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Omar Hussain Alfardan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, said, “In the current operating environment, we remained focused on staying close to our clients, supporting their needs, delivering resilient performance and continuing to execute our strategy with discipline. In the first quarter, we further strengthened our customer proposition, service delivery and continued to progress in the digital and AI-led transformation as part of our broader transformation that will support the Group’s sustainable growth in line with its strategy. We remain committed to reinforcing resilience across the business while continuing to respond to evolving client needs.”
Stephen Moss, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented, “In the first quarter of 2026 the Bank delivered a resilient operating performance. We continue to be focused on prudent risk management and the execution of the next phase of our strategy.Net Operating Income and Operating Profit both improved year on year, while the reduction in reported Net Profit primarily reflected higher provisioning, consistent with adjustments of the scenario weights made under IFRS9 to take into account the current geopolitical environment and balanced provisioning throughout the year.
During the quarter, the Bank maintained strong liquidity and a strong capital position, successfully re-issued $500m of Additional Tier 1 Capital Securities, and continued to advance its strategic priorities through digital and AI initiatives, including a Customer Retention AI program, a Credit Card Spend and Activation Predictor model, and an internal generative AI assistant.”
Total Assets as at 31 March 2026 reached QR190.6bn, an increase of 12.8% from 31 March 2025. This is mainly driven by an increase in loans and advances to customers and an increase in investment securities.
Investment securities increased by 17.2% to reach QR40.7bn, with the Group investing in high-quality market securities.
Net Loans and advances to customers increased to QR105.5bn, up 11.2% due to higher corporate, government and public sector, retail lending and acceptances. Excluding acceptances which are trade related items, the loan growth is approx. 3.9%.
Debt securities and other borrowings in issue increased to QR13.2bn and QR28.6bn respectively, as the Group diversified its funding sources. Furthermore, customer deposits are at QR85.0bn as the Group focused on reducing high cost of funding, while growing low-cost deposits by 3.8%, which represents 40.5% of the total customer deposits mix.
CB Group reported a consolidated Net Profit after Tax of QR501.4m for the three months ended 31 March2026, which includes a BEPS Pillar Two Tax charge of QR36.9m and a reported loss of QR25.7m from our subsidiary in Turkey, Alternatif Bank.
