Qatar National Bank (QNB), has reported a 30.8 per cent increase in profit to QR2.7bn ($742m) for the six months ended June 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Total assets grew by QR38.9bn to stand at QR186bn, equivalent to a 26.5 per cent increase. QNB is the country’s largest bank with a market share approaching 40 per cent of banking sector assets.

Loans and advances grew by 41.9 per cent to QR117.6bn, while customer deposits increased by 35.4 per cent during the period to reach QR139.2bn.

Meanwhile, QNB Al-Islami, the bank’s sharia-compliant division, also recorded strong growth, with net profit increasing by 140 per cent to reach QR443.2m. Total assets rose by 106 per cent to register QR29.2bn.

Ali Shareef al-Emadi, QNB’s Group chief executive said the results “reflect the successful implementation of the bank’s strategic objectives across the range of business activities including the international expansion plans.”

Efforts are currently underway to increase the number of foreign branches in Oman, Sudan and Syria. QNB plans to increase its Syrian network of branches to 15 by early next year.

The bank is also looking to increase its stake in its Syrian subsidiary QNB-Syria to 55 per cent from 49 per cent, along with raising its share capital to $300m from its current $100m. 

QNB sold a 34 percent stake in the subsidiary through a $36.9m IPO in August 2009, which was 2.5 times oversubscribed. QNB-Syria began operations in November 2009.