In a moment of pride and excitement, Doha Bank has been adjudged as the “Best Commercial Bank in the Middle East”. The accolade was granted by the prestigious Banker Middle East magazine in a glittering ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Doha on 16th May 2007. It was attended by H.E. Mr. Mohd Saleh Al Sada, Minister of State for Energy & Industry Affairs in addition to an elite gathering of dignitaries and bankers.

The award granted to Doha Bank is recognition of the trust and confidence of the banking community in it and an acknowledgement of the transformation of Doha Bank towards a vibrant, progressive bank committed to sustain its leadership position.

The performance of Doha Bank over the last four years was exemplary. The Return on Equity has reached 32.24% and the Return on Average asset has multiplied and reached 4.02%.  ROE & ROA ratios of Doha bank are the best in the market indicating highest profitability and productivity.  In four years times, the shareholder equity has grown three times and the annual net profit has grown six times. The assets have grown above QR 21.5 Billion, achieving a y-o-y growth of 42%, whereas, the shareholder equity has grown to QR 2.7 Billions.

Today Doha bank boasts of a product and services basket unparalleled in the country.  It has expanded the deposit product-base and has revised its personal loan policy to sustain the competitive edge and provide more flexibility to customers. More importantly, it has focused hard on mobilizing stable and low cost funds for its expansion and asset liability management by successfully launching a USD 1 Billion EMTN program.

Doha Bank has also created new business model, which include a vision towards globalization, which lead to opening representative offices in Japan, Singapore and Turkey. Doha bank will be focusing on expansion by exploiting the opportunities arising out of the recently added global network of branches and representative offices.

While expressing his happiness on receiving the award, the Chairman of Doha Bank, H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al Thani said: “We at Doha Bank are absolutely focused in our objective towards creating a strong, customer caring and respectable professional organization.  We have been taking numerous initiatives to provide the best value to customers and stakeholders. Our dedicated team of professionals has been consistently setting high standards in performance, innovation, security and quality assurance in this highly competitive market. It is an ongoing challenge to enhance and sustain these strengths.”

Mr. Seetharaman, Deputy CEO of Doha Bank while speaking on the occasion said, “It is the board’s visionary leadership, which has taken Doha Bank to new heights. The bank has been completely transformed into a dynamic entity with strong values and customer focus. The board steered Doha Bank to become a pioneer in introducing innovative products and services. During the last decade Doha Bank achieved an impressive ten-fold growth consistently maintaining the best performance in the entire region.”

“Doha Bank is also the first bank in the region to have acquired BS7799 security certificate for bank wide operations, validating our commitment to comply with international best practices in security standards.  We have demonstrated our commitment to quality drive with our processing centers certified for ISO 9001 standards,” he added.

It is known that the Banker Middle East industry awards are only granted after a careful scrutiny of a number of financial and economic parameters, which are key to judging the performance level of any organization.

Doha bank’s transformation has been always duly recognized and applauded by respected financial sector analysts. For example the bank has been adjudged as the Best Bank in Middle East for 2006 by Banker Middle East and Banker of the year for Qatar for 2006 by The Banker, Financial Times.

At the same award-granting ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Mr. R. Seetharaman has been adjudged as the “Banker of the Year” by the Banker Middle East magazine as well in recognition of his valuable contributions to the banking industry in the Middle East.