Capital Markets
From The Report: Qatar 2014
View in Online Reader
Regional political turbulence since 2011 has resulted in a challenging environment for exchanges across the GCC, but Doha’s relatively young bourse has shown its resilience over 2013. The Qatari bourse grew by 24.2% over 2013, led by a 38.7% expansion in the transportation sector. Even the year’s slowest-growing sectors – insurance and real estate – posted double-digit expansion. It has also continued to implement a strategic development plan that has established new indices and a junior market for small and medium-sized enterprises. GDP growth is expected to continue to grow over the coming years, with fiscal surpluses remaining high.
This chapter contains a viewpoint from Adel Abdulaziz Khashabi, Head of QNB Financial Services.
Articles from this Chapter
Ongoing improvements: The bourse has undergone a rapid evolution in terms of both technology and options for investors
Adel Abdulaziz Khashabi, Head of QNB Financial Services, on the upgrade of the Qatar Exchange to the MSCI Emerging Markets IndexOBGplus
The third-largest market in the GCC, Qatar will be upgraded to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index from the MSCI Frontier Markets Index in May 2014. This is likely to result in additional inflows estimated at $500m-750m as funds which track the index are obliged to take positions in the Qatari market. As of November 2013, many active funds had taken the lead, with net foreign investments reaching circa $1bn, versus an outflow of around $700m in 2012. Subsequent to the MSCI upgrade announcement, S&P…
Steady progress: Efforts to attain emerging market status have finally paid offOBGplus
The Qatar Exchange’s (QE) journey to attain “emerging market” status from the influential Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has been a long and transformative one. Since it was established in 1995, the QE has been assiduously upgrading the regulatory and technological environment within which it operates, while simultaneously establishing international best practices. In recent years it has courted international investors through moves such as allowing the Qatar Central Bank to provide…
Commercial Bank of Qatar: Banking & financial servicesOBGplus
The Company Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) is the country’s second-largest lender with a 12% and 10% market share in loans and deposits, respectively (among listed banks). CBQ, which trades as CBQK on the Qatar Exchange, is a conventional full-service bank offering commercial banking and investment banking services and products to corporate and retail customers. It offers commercial loans, trade and project finance, treasury services, consumer loans, current and savings accounts, time deposits, credit cards, e-cards, internet banking, and phone banking services, and has a total of 30 local branches and 151 ATMs. CBQ offers an attractive dividend…
Gulf Warehousing Company: Transport & logisticsOBGplus
The Company Established in 2004, Doha-based Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC), which trades as GWCS on the Qatar Exchange, provides a host of services such as warehousing, freight forwarding, transport, international relocation, records management and supply-chain consulting solutions to various industries. In 2011, the company acquired a 100% stake in Agility Qatar. Following the acquisition, Agility Qatar had an 18.1% stake in GWC, while a Qatari institution holds 18.8%; this leaves 63.2% for the public. The growth driver for the firm comes from Logistics Village Qatar (LVQ), an integrated 1m-sq-metre logistics facility. Besides LVQ, the company…
Al Khaliji Commercial Bank: Banking & financial servicesOBGplus
The Company Al Khaliji Commercial Bank, which trades as KCBK on the Qatar Exchange, is a conventional bank offering commercial banking services and products to corporate and retail customers. Incorporated in 2007 and listed on the exchange in August of that year, the bank offers commercial loans, trade and project finance, treasury services, consumer loans, current and savings accounts, time deposits, credit cards, e-cards, internet banking and phone banking services. As of April 2013, the bank had seven branches (two in Qatar, four in the UAE and one in Paris, France) and 29 ATMs (25 in Qatar and 4 in the UAE) in operation. Out of the listed…
Qatar Electricity & Water: UtilitiesOBGplus
The Company Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), which trades as QEWS on the Qatar Exchange, is leading local listed provider of utility services. The group owns and operates power generation and water desalination plants across Qatar. QEWC’s installed power generation and water desalination capacity is 5432 MW and 258m imperial gallons per day (MIGD). Moreover, QEWC participates in all independent water and power producers (IWPPs) and independent power producers in Qatar and retains a strategic stake in them. Overall, it supplies more than 60% of total electricity and almost 80% of total water production. The government has a direct…
Nakilat: ShippingOBGplus
The Company Qatar Gas Transport (Nakilat), which trades as QGTS on the Qatar Exchange, is the world’s largest owner of liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships. Nakilat was incorporated in 2004 to address the need to ship the large quantities of LNG being produced by Qatar across the globe. With a total effective LNG shipping capacity of around 8.6m cu metres, the company provides 16% of global LNG shipping capacity. Nakilat’s LNG fleet consists of 54 state-of-the-art vessels, of which 25 are wholly owned by Nakilat. Apart from LNG, Nakilat also jointly owns four very large gas carriers for transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Nakilat enjoys…
Qatar National Cement Company: Building materialsOBGplus
The Company Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC), the first cement producer in Qatar, was set up in 1965 and is 43%-owned by the government and government-related entities. The firm, which trades as QNCD on the Qatar Exchange, is the largest producer of ordinary Portland cement, sulphate-resistant cement, hydrated lime, calcined lime and washed sand in Qatar. QNCC manufacturing units are situated at Umm Bab, close to rich raw material deposits and 82 km from Doha. Total cement production capacity is 14,750 tonnes per day (tpd) and clinker capacity is 11,900 tpd. For investors, the key area to scrutinise is the National Development Strategy’s…
