In this report, KPMG professionals have analyzed the financial results of leading listed commercial banks from each GCC country — the Kingdom of Bahrain (Bahrain), the State of Kuwait (Kuwait), the Sultanate of Oman (Oman), the State of Qatar (Qatar), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia or KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The financial results and selected key performance indicators (KPIs) of the 53 leading GCC banks’ for the year-ended 31 December 2021 are summarized and compared with the prior year (yearended 31 December 2020).
The 2021 report, ‘A new reality’, highlights some of the key financial trends identified in the banking sector across the region, including:
- Robust asset growth
- Profitability increase
- Stable Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratios
- Lower loan impairment
- Further cost efficiencies
- Rising share prices
2021 followed an unprecedented year where the banking sector faced the impact of Covid-19. Despite this challenge and a difficult economic environment, the GCC banking sector emerged resilient and stronger by taking proactive and timely measures, coupled with effective government support, to weather the storm. our report highlights how: banks placed greater focus on digital transformation; ESG became a priority; NPLs continued to be managed effectively; and agile working practices became the norm, amongst other highlights.
In last year’s report, we made several predictions for the GCC banking sector, including regulators embracing tech; cost and operational efficiencies; declining profitability; ESG gaining prominence; further consolidation; rising NPL and loan impairment; accelerated digital investment; and flexible working patterns. While a number of these predictions were realized in 2021, the sector has emerged far more resilient that one could have anticipated in the peak of the pandemic and hence a set of results that have exceeded expectations.
Use the dashboard below in full screen to optimally view the performance of the banks in GCC across three pages.