meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Qatar banks search for growth

13 January 2026

 

Compared to the explosive loan growth witnessed in some other Gulf states, Qatar’s banking sector remains stuck in a lower gear, as a product of both a tougher interest rate environment and rising operating expenses and loan-loss provisioning charges. This resulted in flat profits in H1 2025, when the aggregate net income of banks rated by Moody’s stood at QR14.2bn ($8.9bn) – just 1% higher than the previous year.

The largest Qatari lender, Qatar National Bank (QNB), reported net profits of QR12.8bn ($3.5bn) for the first nine months of 2025, a 1% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ), another large Qatari lender, reported a 16.5% decline in profits over the same period, to QR1.96bn, with loan impairments and lower interest income squeezing margins.

Provisioning and risk-linked costs

Unlike Saudi Arabia’s booming mortgage market, Qatar has not offered income-fattening lending opportunities. Instead, provision levels are elevated: the ratio of loan loss provisions to gross loans stood at 4.2% in October 2025, up from 3.9% at the end of 2024. According to QNB Financial Services, provisions increased by 14.5% in the first 10 months of 2025.

And analysts see overall provisioning costs remaining elevated this year. Though sector-wide provisioning fell to around 9% at the end of Q3 2025, down from 12% a couple of years ago, it remains at a level that is weighing on the banking sector’s profitability.

The ratio of underperforming loans with increased credit risk is also elevated. “The sector is starting to see a gradual, though modest, decline in Stage 2 loan ratios among the banks most impacted, but levels remain above those of Saudi Arabian and UAE banks,” says Amin Sakhri, director, Financial Institutions for Fitch Ratings.

Analysts also see other banking metrics remaining challenged.

“We expect the cost of risk to remain at the recent high level, especially at banks which are more exposed to real estate and contracting sectors,” says Francesca Paolino, assistant VP-analyst at Moody’s Ratings.

“This is because we still foresee asset quality pressure at such banks largely reflecting overcapacity in the real estate sector and payment delays in the contracting sector.”

Nonetheless, says Paolino, Qatari banks still benefit from significant lending to the low-risk Qatari government and public sector organisations, while personal loans are largely to Qatari nationals with high job security and creditworthiness.

Steady, but static profitability

Profitability metrics are likely to be broadly stable for the full year 2025, predicts Fitch’s Sakhri, despite the US-tracking rate cuts, as Qatari banks are more neutral to these than other banks in the GCC because their costs of funding tend to benefit more.

“We’re not anticipating a significant uptick in terms of profitability metrics for 2026 and any uptick could be coming from some reduction, albeit modest, in loan impairment charges. We’re seeing some further stabilisation in terms of the domestic operating environment, with asset quality deterioration being more contained,” says Sakhri.

Loan growth is picking up, which may provide some uplift to profits this year – even if it is unlikely to prove spectacular.

Alongside the reducing cost of risk, another factor that will support profits this year is growth in key economic sectors. Fitch anticipates a credit growth of about 6% for the sector in 2026, with demand coming from key economic sectors.

Wider economic improvements will also feed through into the banking sector.

Moody’s expects non-oil growth in the single digits, at 4.0% in 2026 – down slightly on 4.5% in 2025, but still up from 3.4% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2023. This is being spurred by sporting events, business exhibitions and related economic activities, as well as projects associated with the expansion of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas production capacity. “As a result, we expect private sector credit growth to be around 5% in 2026,” says Moody’s Paolino.

Higher fee and commission income, driven by growing non-funded income-related activities, will offset a potential drop in net interest income in 2026 even as interest rate cuts constrain margins. The net effect will be to keep operating income broadly stable.

“We expect cuts in interest rates to temporarily squeeze NIMs [net interest margins] because loan interest rates are likely to decline faster than the rates paid on deposits and other funding costs,” says Paolino.

“However, this will also be mitigated by the banks’ skew towards short-term funding, which enables them to respond quickly to lower interest rates.”

Digital-driven efficiency

Another core strength of Qatari banks is their GCC-leading operating efficiency levels. According to Moody’s, the cost-to-income ratio remains around 25% – a level it does not expect to drastically change.

In the short term, Qatari bank investments in digital tools and technology are expected to keep expenses on a rising trend. Longer term, however, the hard-wiring of digital services into lenders’ offerings is liable to yield dividends.

For example, QNB last year signed three memorandums of understanding with Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Rasmal Ventures, aimed at strengthening Qatar’s role as a hub for fintech and digital transformation. The QFC agreement involves QNB facilitating the growth of fintech firms by providing access to banking infrastructure and supporting innovation in digital assets, tokenisation and embedded finance.

Such moves, along with customer-facing measures designed for ease of use, will inevitably enhance performance levels. That in turn will help Doha’s banks soften the blow of the other headwinds in effect in Qatar, including higher taxes.

As Paolino explains: “Another aspect we expect to impact profitability, compared to the past, is the higher tax expenses because of the accrual of Pillar Two Taxes, effective from 1 January 2025, under the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules, known as the Global Minimum Tax.”

As of June 2025, notes Moody’s CBQ and QNB’s net profit reflected a higher tax expense of QR2.3bn ($630m), compared with QR1.5bn ($410m) in H1 2024.

Qatar is not alone in the Gulf in applying these rules, but it does suggest that reversing the flat profit trend will not be a simple affair for banks in 2026.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15403456/main.gif
James Gavin

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Ruwais industrial complex struck by drones

    10 March 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to a fire that has broken out at a facility in Ruwais industrial complex, caused by a drone attack.

    The Ruwais industrial complex, located in Abu Dhabi's Al-Dhafra region, houses the world's fourth-largest single-site oil refinery and is operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

    No injuries have been reported at this time, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.

    The UAE continues to intercept drones and missiles fired from Iran, as attacks on the Gulf countries continue for a 11th day in the ongoing regional conflict.

    Apart from the Ruwais refining complex, which has a capacity of 922,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil and condensates, Ruwais industrial complex is also home to petrochemicals producer Borouge’s main production complex.

    Additionally, Adnoc is in an advanced stage of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project within the Ruwais industrial complex, which will have the capacity to produce about 9.6 million tonnes a year (t/y) of LNG from two processing trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million t/y. When the project is commissioned, which is due to take place in 2028, Adnoc’s LNG production capacity will more than double to about 15 million t/y.

    Separately, Taziz – a 60:40 joint venture of Adnoc Group and Abu Dhabi’s industrial holding company ADQ – is overseeing the development of at least seven specialty chemicals plants in its planned derivatives zone in Ruwais Industrial City.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15926385/main2738.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Contractors submit bids for Dorra offshore gas project packages

    10 March 2026

     

    Contractors have submitted bids to Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on a project to develop natural gas from the Dorra gas field, located in the waters of the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.

    KJO, which is jointly owned by Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), has divided the project’s scope of work into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

    Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package one of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract awarded by KJO to L&TEH is estimated to be valued at $140m-$150m, MEED reported in October.

    Contractors submitted bids for the remaining three packages – offshore packages 2A and 2B and onshore package three by the final deadline of 9 March, according to sources.

    Two consortiums of contractors submitted bids for the packages, sources told MEED:

    • NMDC Energy (UAE) / Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
    • Saipem (Italy) / Larsen and Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)

    KJO had extended the bid submission deadlines for these packages several times since last year.

    The EPC scope of work for package 2A includes Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals. Package 2B involves the central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables. Package three includes the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.

    Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas from the Dorra gas field.

    The two countries have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, they have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.

    Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

    The Dorra facilities scheme is one of three multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that has advanced in the past few months.

    AGOC onshore Khafji gas plant

    AGOC has set a current bid submission deadline of 22 April for seven EPC packages as part of a project to construct the Khafji gas plant, which will process gas from the Dorra field onshore Saudi Arabia.

    MEED previously reported that AGOC issued main tenders for the seven EPC packages in 2025. Contractors were initially set deadlines of 24 October for technical bid submissions and 9 November for the submission of commercial bids, which was then extended by AGOC until 22 December.

    The seven EPC packages cover a range of works, including open-art and licensed process facilities, pipelines, industrial support infrastructure, site preparation, overhead transmission lines, power supply systems and main operational and administrative buildings.

    France-based Technip Energies has carried out a concept study and front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the entire Dorra gas field development programme.

    Progress has been hampered by a geopolitical dispute over ownership of the Dorra gas field. Iran, which refers to the field as Arash, claims it partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the field lies entirely within their jointly administered Neutral Zone – also known as the Divided Zone – and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim.

    In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim to the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting in Riyadh of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

    Since that show of strength and unity, projects targeting the production and processing of gas from the Dorra field have gained momentum.

    KGOC onshore processing facilities

    KGOC has initiated early engagement with contractors for the main EPC tendering process for a planned Dorra onshore gas processing facility, which is to be located in Kuwait.

    KGOC is at the feed stage of the project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $3.3bn. The firm is now expected to issue the main EPC tender within the first quarter of this year, MEED recently reported.

    The proposed facility will receive gas from a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being separately developed by KJO. The complex will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cf/d of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra field.

    The facility will be located near the Al-Zour refinery, owned by another KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company.

    A 700,000-square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility and discussions regarding survey work are ongoing. The site could require shoring, backfilling and dewatering.

    The onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business, Kuwait Oil Company, for possible injection into its oil fields.

    Additionally, KGOC plans to award licensed technology contracts to US-based Honeywell UOP and Shell subsidiary Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the plant’s acid gas removal unit and sulphur recovery unit, respectively.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15926065/main5801.gif
    Indrajit Sen
  • Abu Dhabi receives bids for 3.3GW Al-Nouf IPP

    10 March 2026

     

    Two joint ventures have submitted bids for the development of the 3.3GW Al-Nouf independent power producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.

    Located within the newly established Al-Nouf complex, the facility will be the largest single-site, carbon-capture-ready, combined-cycle gas turbine plant in the UAE. 

    State utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) issued a request for proposals for the project last August.

    Ewec received statements of qualifications for the contract in April 2025.

    The groups that submitted bids are:

    • Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia) and China Energy Engineering Corporation
    • Orascom (Egypt) and Sumitomo (Japan) 

    As MEED previosuly reported, the project will follow the model of Abu Dhabi’s IPP programme, in which developers enter into a long-term agreement with Ewec as the sole procurer. 

    This involves the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of the plant, with the successful developer or developer consortium owning up to 40% of the entity. The remaining equity will be held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi government.

    The project site was selected for its ability to accommodate both seawater-cooled power generation and reverse osmosis desalination technologies.

    The plant will have the capacity to support several utility-scale energy and desalination projects in the future.

    The facility is scheduled to begin commercial operations in the third quarter of 2029.

    Taweelah C IPP

    Last year, the Taweelah C IPP became the first gas-fired power plant project to be procured by Abu Dhabi since 2020, when Ewec awarded Japan’s Marubeni Corporation the contract to develop the Fujairah 3 IPP.

    Ewec is procuring the 2,500MW gas-fired IPP, which will be located in the Al-Taweelah power and desalination complex, approximately 50 kilometres to the northeast of Abu Dhabi.

    It is understood that three groups have submitted bids for the developer contract. These are:

    • Sumitomo (Japan) / Korean Midland Power / Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation 
    • Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia)  / Sembcorp (Singapore)
    • Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) / Korea Western Power (Kowepo) / Kyuden (Japan)

    A team of UK-based Alderbrook Finance and US-based Sargent & Lundy is providing financial and technical advisory services to Ewec for the Taweelah C IPP

    The power purchase agreement for the project was previously expected to be signed by the end of 2025, with the project scheduled to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2028.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15924159/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Eighty-nine firms express Qassim airport interest

    10 March 2026

    Eighty-nine local and international firms have expressed interest in a contract to develop Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

    The project is being developed by Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Holding Company (Matarat), through the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP).

    In a statement, NCP said the list includes 55 local companies and 34 international firms comprising 19 developers; 33 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors; 13 operators; 11 advisors; nine equity investors; three financial institutions and one in the other category.

    These are:

    Developers

    • Ports Projects Management & Development Company (local)
    • Tamasuk Holding (local)
    • Makyol (Turkiye)
    • Al-Gihaz Holding (local)
    • Alfanar Company (local)
    • Nesma Infrastructure & Technology (local)
    • Plenary (Australia)
    • WCT International (Malaysia)
    • Al-Bawani (local)
    • Egis (France)
    • Mada International Holding (local)
    • Vision Invest (local)
    • Almutlaq Real Estate Investment Company (local)
    • Samsung C&T (South Korea)
    • Sarh Developments (local)
    • IC Ictas (Turkiye)
    • Kalyon (Turkiye)
    • Saudi Binladin Group (local)
    • Lamar Holding (Bahrain​)

    EPC Contractors

    • SkyBridge (US)
    • Avic (China)
    • Saudi Pan Kingdom Company (local)
    • Fas Energy & Infrastructure (local)
    • Alghanim International (Kuwait)
    • Abdul Ali Al-Ajmi (local)
    • Technical Development Company for Contracting (local)
    • China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (China)
    • Almansouryah General Contracting (local)
    • Al-Fahd Company (local)
    • YDA Insaat (Turkiye)
    • China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
    • Rowad Modern Engineering (Egypt)
    • Abdullah Fahad Al-Khaledi Company for General Contracting (Saudi Arabia)
    • Shade Corporation (local)
    • Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting (local)
    • Setec (France)
    • International Hospitals Construction Company (local)
    • Arkad Engineering & Construction Company (local)
    • Alrawaf Trading & Contracting (local)
    • Abdulrahman Saad Alrashid & Sons (local)
    • Mistacoglu Holding (Turkiye)
    • Al-Jaber Contracting (Qatar)
    • Mobco Construction (local)
    • Sateaa Al-Tameer for Real Estate Development & Investment (local)
    • China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (China)
    • China Construction Excellence Company (China)
    • Safari Company (Saudi Arabia)
    • Al-Sharif Group Holdings (local)
    • Nayef Abdulkarim Company Al-Rakhis Contracting Company (local)
    • Al-Yamama (local)
    • Almabani (local)
    • Buna Al-Khaleej Contracting (local)

    Operators

    • Annasban Group (local)
    • Indiza Airport Management (South Africa)
    • GMR Airports (India)
    • Flynas (local)
    • Bangalore International Airport Limited (India)
    • Idemia Public Security (France)
    • Saudi Ground Services (local)
    • Oman Airports Management Company (Oman)
    • Al-Qussie International (local)
    • Serco Saudi Arabia (local)
    • Al-Shams National Global Energy (local)
    • DAA International (Ireland)
    • TAV Airports (Turkiye)

    Advisors

    • Contrax International (UAE)
    • Typsa (Spain)
    • Ghesa Ingenieria Y Tecnologia (Spain)
    • Pini Group (Switzerland)
    • Hill International (United States)
    • Walter P Moore Engineering Consultants (United States)
    • Foster + Partners (UK)
    • Arabtech Jardaneh (Jordan)
    • Currie & Brown (UK)
    • Meinhardt (Singapore)
    • Populous (UK)

    Equity Investors

    • Namaya International Investment Company (local)
    • Zamil Group Investment Company (local)
    • Buhur for investment (local)
    • Asyad Holding (local)
    • IDS Consulting (local)
    • Al-Gassim Investment Holding (local)
    • Erada Advanced Projects (local)
    • Sumou Global Investment (local)
    • Abrdn Investcorp Infrastructure Partners (Bahrain)

    ​Financial Institutions

    • Bank Aljazira (local)
    • Arab National Bank (local)
    • Piper Sandler​ Companies (United States)

    ​​Other

    • Middle East ​Tasks Company Metco (local)

    The project scope includes the redevelopment of the passenger terminal as well as other associated facilities such as airside infrastructure, including runway, taxiways and aprons.

    The project will be developed on a design, finance, construction, operations, maintenance and transfer basis.

    The clients issued an expression of interest notice for the project on 9 February, and companies were given until 23 February to submit responses.

    The latest development follows Matarat Holding and NCP prequalifying five teams to bid for a contract to develop the new Taif international airport project in Mecca Province in January.

    According to local media reports, four consortiums and one standalone company have been prequalified to proceed to the next stage of the project.

    The new Taif International airport will be located 21 kilometres southeast of the existing Taif airport, with a capacity to accommodate 2.5 million passengers by 2030.

    The clients opted for a 30-year build-transfer-operate (BTO) contract model, including the construction period.

    Previous tenders

    The Taif, Hail and Qassim airport schemes were previously tendered and awarded as public-private partnership (PPP) projects using a BTO model.

    Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) awarded the contracts to develop four airport PPP projects to two separate consortiums in 2017.

    A team of Tukiye’s TAV Airports and the local Al-Rajhi Holding Group won the 30-year concession agreement to build, transfer and operate airport passenger terminals in Yanbu, Qassim and Hail.

    A second team, comprising Lebanon’s Consolidated Contractors Company, Germany’s Munich Airport International and local firm Asyad Group, won the BTO contract to develop Taif International airport.

    However, these projects stalled following the restructuring of the kingdom’s aviation sector.

    Saudi Arabia has already privatised airports, including the $1.2bn Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina, which was developed as a PPP and opened in 2015.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15922809/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Egypt brings new gas wells online

    10 March 2026

    Egypt has brought new wells online in the Mediterranean Sea and the country’s Western Desert region, according to a statement from Egypt’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry.

    In the Mediterranean, the second well in the West El-Burullus (WEB) offshore field was brought online, increasing the field’s output from about 25 to 37 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).

    The project is being developed and produced through a joint‑venture vehicle known as PetroWeb, in which the lead partner is US-based Cheiron.

    The production is forecast to exceed 70 million cf/d following the connection of the third well in the coming days, while the drilling of the fourth well has been completed with promising results, according to the ministry.

    The development plan includes drilling two additional wells on the Papyrus platform, linked to WEB, to maximise the utilisation of the concession area's resources and accelerate production.

    The well in the Western Desert has been brought on by Badr El-Din Petroleum Company (Bapetco), which is a joint venture of London-headquartered Shell and state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

    Production tests showed rates of 10-15 million cf/d, in addition to 300–650 b/d of condensate, according to Egypt’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry.

    The latest well has increased the confirmed reserves in the area from 15 billion cubic feet to 25 billion cubic feet.

    Four more production wells are planned for in the Badr El-Din concession as Bapetco continues its push to ramp up production from the field.

    Egypt is pushing to increase domestic production of gas amid soaring global prices due to the US and Israel’s war with Iran.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15916500/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp