Qatar First
Bank LLC (QFB) recently announced it lost $72.9 million in 2016 after some of the bank’s investments were revised downward.
“Our private equity portfolio had consistently generated
significant returns over the last six years,” Ziad Makkawi, CEO of QFB, said. “Our Turkish investments are still
47 percent higher than their acquisition price and will continue to grow in sales and
profitability and occupy leading positions in their respective industries of healthcare and retail. Additionally,
our U.K. investments are still significantly above our acquisition costs, both in pounds and riyals.”
Makkawi
said global political and economic conditions
negatively affected the company’s markets, resulting in a decline in overall
profitability.
“Our 2016
revenues have been significantly affected by reversals of previous years’ fair value gains on our private equity investments, specifically in
Turkey and the U.K., resulting in overall losses of QAR 265.6 million, the majority
of which are unrealized,” Makkawi said.
