TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 2021

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Carmaker Stellantis shares star in European debutWe have the scale, the resources, the diversity and the knowhow to successfully capture the opportunities of this new era in transportation.

BUSINESS | 02John Elkann Chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Business

Qatar and Paraguay to bolster relationsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Minister of Commerce and Industry, H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, met yesterday with H E Luis Alberto Castiglioni, Para-guay’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Minister, through video conferencing.

Discussions touched on the promotion of bilateral relations and joint cooperation in the trade, investment, and industrial fields.

Talks also focused on bilateral trade policies and the efforts exerted by both sides to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, the Min-ister of Commerce and Industry highlighted the economic pol-icies that Qatar adopted and the measures it took to abolish restrictions on foreign investment and create investment opportunities for

companies looking to invest and establish a presence in Qatar.

Discussions also touched on coor-dination mechanisms to bolster

bilateral trade and enhance cooper-ation in priority sectors that would serve the developmental aspirations of both countries.

QFC records 63.7% growth amid global economic slowdownTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, has announced a significant increase of 63.7 percent in the number of new firms licensed on the QFC platform in 2020, compared to 2019. The QFC registered 334 firms in the year to December 31, 2020, compared to almost 200 firms registered over the same period in 2019.

Ending the year on a high note, the QFC maintained its business growth for the 8th consecutive year, despite the unprecedented global economic slowdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The expansion of the QFC-registered firms, which repre-sents a variety of industries, both financial and non-financial

services, included a record increase of 139.5 percent in the digital sector. Given the tre-mendous opportunities that emerged in the technology and digital sectors amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and backed by the QFC’s fintech services provider license, the platform welcomed 91 new digital firms, hailing from diverse countries including India, USA, Pakistan, France, Russia and the United Kingdom. The QFC also con-tinued to leverage its support to other firms across its strategic clusters, namely sports, media and financial services, regis-tering 62 newcomers from these sectors. This increase pushes the QFC much closer to achieving its goal of registering 1,000 firms, ahead of the designated date as per its 2022 Strategy.

Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer at QFC

Authority, said: “Last year pre-sented us with yet another chance to witness Qatar’s per-severance and ability to adapt and thrive amidst challenging circumstances. Specifically, it showcased the indispensable role of leading organisations, such as the QFC, in maintaining and accelerating the wheel of economic development. Thanks to our proactive approach, our unique business model and

diverse offering, we are proudly spearheading the recovery of business activities in the country, evidenced by our extraordinary growth in 2020.”

He added: “I am confident that the QFC’s progress will continue in 2021 and beyond, backed by the State’s ground-breaking reforms and economic diversification efforts, which reinforce the competitiveness and attractiveness of our

business ecosystem and strengthens Qatar’s position as a thriving business destination for global investors.”

The year 2020 saw the QFC’s implementation of support measures in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, which offered relief to its registered firms, in addition to new policies that create opportunities for firms looking to tap into Qatar’s flour-ishing market.�P2

Annual real estate trading value exceeds QR31bnQNA—DOHA

The trading volume of registered real estates during 2020 at the Ministry of Justice’s real estate registration department stood at QR31,021,742,761.

The data of the annual analytical real estate bulletin issued by the Ministry of Justice showed 5,117 real estate trans-actions were recorded, which confirms the strength and durability of the real estate sector and its continued strong

growth as a major supporter of the national economy.

During 2020, the municipalities of Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Daayen topped the most active trades in terms of financial value, followed by the munic-ipalities of Al Wakra, Umm Salal, Al Khor and Al Thakhira, Al Shamal and Al Shahaniya.

The value of the transactions of the Doha municipality amounted to

QR14,972,472,275, followed by Al Rayyan municipality with QR5,594,183,878, while that of Al Daayen municipality was QR4,795,149,665, followed by Al Wakra with QR2,663,800,923, while that of Umm Salal reached QR1,992,901,259, and that of Al Khor and Al Thakhira municipality reached QR568,585,470, followed by Al Shamal at QR404,471,021 and Al Shahaniya at QR30,176,161. �P3

North Field

expansion to boost

construction

sector: OBG report

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s ambitious North Field project plays a key role in generating construction a c t i v i t y , i n c r e a s i n g production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and boosting the recovery from the pandemic, Oxford Business Group (OBG) has said in its latest COVID-19 Response Report which was conducted in partnership with AlJaber Engineering (JEC).

The report looks in detail at the projects expected to boost construction activity in Qatar as the pandemic eases, led by the major expansion works planned for the North Field. It also features details of other projects in the pipeline, which include the expansion of both Hamad International Airport and Hamad Port.

With the 2022 FIFA World Cup drawing nearer, OBG tracks progress on the infra-structure and hospitality projects that will be needed to meet the needs of the large influx of visitors expected for the major sporting event.

The challenges that Qatar’s construction sector has faced due to pandemic-related supply disruptions and social-distancing measures are also explored.

Licence-holders will find coverage of the growing importance of health, safety and environmental standards in the construction industry following the arrival of COVID-19, as evidenced in new labour laws introduced in August.�P2

QNB launches innovative platform of its mobile banking appTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

QNB, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, has launched QNB Pay, a new and innovative platform of its mobile banking app, which includes QNB card digitisation that provides mobile card-less payments. This service is available on Android phones that enable NFC payment, known as mobile contactless payment.

One of the most notable new feature of the service is that it can make tradi-tional plastic cards or wallets something of the past, thus adding a convenient, safe and innovative customer expe-rience to the existing digital service packages already enjoyed by QNB customers.

This service is the most innovative service of its kind in Qatar, which aims to keep pace with the current devel-opment in banking digitisation and works to change the future of payments’ environment.

It opens the way for the devel-opment of further digital services and the adoption of other innovative digital solutions that can support the devel-opment of banking services in the State of Qatar.

This unique service is designed to add to the many other features of the QNB mobile banking app that meet the daily banking needs

of QNB’s customers, saving customers’ time and providing them with additional security to make their payments with ease, both within Qatar and anywhere in the world that provides contactless payment services.

It is worth mentioning that QNB pro-vides many digital services and features in its latest releases of the mobile banking application. This includes the WhatsApp banking services available to all customers to be able to communicate

directly and easily with the customer service representatives.

In addition, the Bank added a pre-booking service to visit branches or card centres, as well as the MPay payment service that allows transfers within Qatar to anyone and around the clock by simply entering a mobile phone number only. The QNB mobile banking app can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play.

QNB Group with its subsidiaries and associates in more than 31 countries across three continents offers a range of cutting-edge banking services and products. The group employs more than 28,000 people in 1,000 locations, with an ATM network of more than 4,300 devices.

The QFC registered 334 firms in the year to December 31, 2020, compared to almost 200 firms registered over the same period in 2019.

Ending the year on a high note, the QFC maintained its business growth for the 8th consecutive year.

The expansion of the QFC-registered firms, which represents a variety of industries, both financial and non-financial services, included a record increase of 139.5 percent in digital sector.

QDB’s support to small, medium firms growsSACHIN KUMARTHE PENINSULA

In the year when Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) faced tough chal-lenges due to COVID-19 outbreak, the small and medium firms got timely support from the QDB. Whether it was regarding financial services, consul-tancy or guidance, QDB registered impressive growth in all segments of its services during 2020.

The direct lending from QDB grew to QR7.31bn last year, registering a growth of 9 percent from 2019, said the bank on its social media account, highlighting its achievement in 2020. The bank had granted direct loans of about QR6.7bn during 2019. The state-owned development organi-sation is the main entity responsible for supporting and promoting local SMEs to establish a vibrant private sector in the country.

There was a growth of 34 percent in number of beneficiaries from QDB’s advisory (consultation) service as 474 entities benefitted from such services in 2020 compared to 354 in 2019.

QDB, apart from providing local as well as global market access and financial support services, it also offers a lot of other benefits such as incu-bation facilities, consultancy, market intelligence, training and skill devel-opment programmes, meetings, sem-inars, workshops and exhibitions. During 2020, the number of incubated companies reached 320, registering

around 25 percent compared to 2019.Small- and medium-sized enter-

prises make up a large share of Qatari enterprises and are a key pillar of the State’s ambitions to diversify the economy. In light of the National Development Strategy (NDS) for Qatar (2018-2022), the SME sector represents a target area for future development.

QDB conducts broad variety of ini-tiatives and programs to support SMEs in Qatar. Some of them are initiated QDB, while some are conducted by supporting agencies and some by other key players.

In Qatar, for a company to be con-sidered an SME, the number of employees must not exceed 250 and the annual turnover should not be more than QR100m. A company is considered ‘Micro’ if its employees do not exceed 10 and its annual turnover does not exceed QR1m. Enterprises that are classified as ‘Small’ if it employs between 11 and 50 people and generate between QR1m and QR20m of annual turnover. To be classified as a Medium-sized company, the total number of employees must be between 51 and 250 and the annual turnover must be between QR20m and QR100m.

Minister of Commerce and Industry, H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, during a virtual meeting with his Paraguayan counterpart.

02 TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 2021BUSINESS

FROM PAGE 1

This included a legal services policy, which ensures that new QFC-licensed legal firms have the capacity and expertise to serve international clients across geo-graphic boundaries. Another sig-nificant announcement was the new regulations for financial institutions to operate a repre-sentative office in Qatar, which further bolsters their business by allowing an increased range of permitted activities. The QFC also introduced a holistic digitalised incorporation process that streamlines the business expe-rience of new firms, starting from the licensing phase, and throughout their journey in Qatar.

In line with the QFC’s core mandate to promote economic diversification, while adhering to the COVID-19 precautionary measures, the QFC launched its thought-leadership series, entitled ‘#AccessQatar: QFC Webcast Series’, which offers a dynamic platform to engage existing and prospective clients as well as the wider business community. The series covers the latest trends and developments across a number of industries and topics, including Qatar’s economy, financial services, fintech, digital, and sports. It also promotes sectors with promising growth potential, such as the air-craft financing and leasing, and showcases the competitive

offering of the QFC. In 2020, the QFC took part in

67 webinars, from which 27 web-casts were hosted by the Centre, with over 3000 attendees in total. Some of the online events, which expanded the QFC’s network in key markets, including Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, Canada and the United States, were organised in collaboration with renowned entities, including Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of Malaysia in the State of Qatar, the US-Qatar Business Council, K&L Gates, among others.

Similarly, the QFC launched the ‘QFC Tech Talk Series’, which bolsters connectivity across the fintech ecosystem and

encourages firms, experts and innovators to share ideas, exchange knowledge and explore opportunities spanning different verticals.

Another significant landmark of 2020 was the virtual hosting of the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) for the first time. The QFC successfully organised a line-up of engaging virtual events, which witnessed a record attendance of over 1,000 attendees in addition to all 17 WAIFC members.

The QFC extended its business network by signing 5 MoUs with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Justice,

the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, and the Global Humanitarian Action Executive Alliance (GHAEA).

Another key MoU was between the Investment Pro-motion Agency of Qatar (IPA Qatar), which is licensed on the QFC platform, and UBS, the world’s preeminent global wealth management firm. This MoU sets forth a preliminary agreement to establish a UBS Wealth Management operation in Doha.

2020 saw the winning of the prestigious Silver Telly Award 2020 in recognition of ‘The

Business Trip’ series, produced in partnership with Bloomberg Media Studios. The Silver Telly Awards is committed to honour work excellence; ranging from documentaries, branded content, and television shows to digital series, from across the world.

The QFC is an onshore juris-diction that allows registered companies to enjoy competitive benefits, such as up to 100 percent foreign ownership, 100 percent repatriation of profits, 10 percent corporate tax on locally sourced profits, and an extensive double taxation treaty network with over 80 countries, a legal environment based on English common law and the right to trade in any currency.

QFC records 63.7% growth amid global economic slowdown

North Field

expansion to boost

construction

sector: OBG reportFROM PAGE 1

The report also shines a spot-light on JEC’s expansion and per-formance over the years, charting the large-scale projects that the contractor has undertaken, which include the 2022 FIFA World Cup Al Thumama Stadium, the Doha Metro Project – Gold Line and Qatar Petroleum District. It also highlights the company’s decision to buck local trends by looking beyond the Qatari market, most notably at regional opportunities in oil and gas.

Osama Hadid, CEO at AlJaber Engineering, who was interviewed in the report, said that while infrastructure devel-opment will be less extensive than in the years leading up to the pandemic, oil, gas and mil-itary projects are expected to help activity pick up once again.

“The outlook for opportu-nities in the Qatari construction market is promising. Contractors have borne the brunt of the problems created by the pan-demic in the construction sector. We hope that, with vaccines becoming available in late 2020 or early 2021, the long-standing effects of the pandemic on the country’s construction market will be minimal,” he added.

Jana Treeck, OBG’s Managing Director for the Middle East, said that prudent fiscal policies imple-mented over the years and LNG export wealth had helped Qatar to weather the worst of the pan-demic, while plans to diversify the economy should help to better accommodate fluctuating natural gas prices.

She added: “Construction has become a key driver of growth on the back of public infra-structure spending and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. We expect a solid project pipeline that includes the strategic long-term expansion of the North Field to accelerate activity and carry the sector beyond 2022.”

The CRR provides in-depth analysis of the country’s response to COVID-19 in an easy-to-nav-igate and accessible format.

Qatar banks’ assets rose by 3.7% in first nine months of 2020: PwCTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The aggregated total assets of Qatar’s eight listed commercial banks on the Qatar Stock Exchange grew by 3.7 percent to QR1.69 trillion in the first nine months of 2020 (Q3 2020), according to PwC in its latest ‘2020 Qatar Banking Sector Report’.

The report added that the banks’ aggregated loans and advances to customers grew by 4.5 percent to reach QR1.17 trillion, showing a steady growth in 2020 despite the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The eight listed commercial banks on the Qatar Stock Exchange are Ahli Bank, Com-mercial Bank of Qatar, Doha Bank, Khaliji Bank, Qatar Inter-national Bank, Qatar Interna-tional Islamic Bank, Qatar National Bank, and Rayan.

In the report, PwC added that Qatar’s financial institutions are accelerating transformation pro-grammes to build financial insti-tutions of the future aimed at increasing cost efficiencies and lending activities by reaching out

to new customer segments. As restrictions taken in the first

half of 2020 gradually ease, the upcoming six months will offer the rare opportunity to embrace change at an unprecedented pace with both corporations and cus-tomers. To design the financial institutions of the future, there are key priorities to focus on which includes integrating digital with traditional branches in order to attract a younger and digitally savvy customer segment as well as using new methods for assessing credit worthiness and better understanding the customer.

Burak Zatiturk, Qatar Financial Services Leader at PwC Middle East, said: “The Qatar banking sector is embracing

change, and evidence can be found in the Q3 2020 financials. In light of the lessons recently learned throughout the past year, financial institutions now have the capacity to accelerate trans-formation programmes in order to design the financial institutions of the future.”

This edition of the ‘2020 Qatar Banking Sector Report’ shows that banks steadily grew their lending activity, accelerating the pace of expansion by diversifying the source of funding through a double-digit growth of debt secu-rities and Sukuk financing.

Bassam Hajhamad, Country Senior Partner and Consulting Leader at PwC Middle East, added: “The consolidation of major banks recently seen in Qatar will result in stronger financial institutions with signif-icant liquidity available to support the country’s economic growth. Not only will this strengthen the country’s banking sector, but we also expect to see a positive impact on the local stock exchange as well as an increase in future transactions”.

French oil company Tour Total skyscraper is seen in La Defense business district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, yesterday.

Tour Total skyscraper

Stellantis shares star in European debutREUTERS — MILAN

Stellantis, the carmaker created by combining Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot-owner PSA, enjoyed a positive start yesterday, its shares rising 8 percent on their European market debut and valuing the business at around €42bn ($51bn).

With annual production of around 8 million vehicles and revenues of more than €165bn, the world’s fourth largest auto company is expected to play a key role in the industry’s jump into the new era of electrification.

Stellantis will have 14 brands, from FCA’s Fiat, Maserati and US-focused Jeep, Dodge and Ram to PSA’s tradi-tionally Europe-focused Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS.

“We have the scale, the resources, the diversity and the knowhow to successfully capture the opportunities of this new era in transportation,” Chairman John Elkann (pictured) said in a video on the Borsa Italiana website to mark the occasion.

Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said the merger would

add €25bn in value for share-holders over the years, thanks to projected cost cuts.

“I can tell you that the focus from day one will be on the value creation that is the result of the implementation of those synergies,” Tavares said in the same video.

Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and PSA have said Stellantis can cut costs by more than €5bn a year without plant closures.

Milan-listed shares of Stel-lantis started trading at €12.758 and at 1330 GMT were up 8.1 percent at of €13.59. The Paris-listed shares traded around the same level.

That compares with Fiat Chrysler’s (FCA) close on Friday

at €12.57.Over the weekend, PSA

shares were exchanged into new FCA shares. All FCA shares were then renamed as Stellantis.

A Milan-based trader said part of the rise can be explained by technical reasons, with funds buying shares to adjust their portfolio exposures to the new company.

Also, former FCA investors are reinvesting part of the pro-ceeds of a €2.9bn special divided FCA paid them last week, a second trader said.

The stock will debut in New York on Tuesday, when Tavares will also hold his first news con-ference as the head of Stellantis.

Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Monica Bosio said she expected markets would start pricing in synergies at Stellantis only once their impact becomes visible from the second half of this year.

“However, even excluding synergies, ... we continue to view Stellantis as underappre-ciated on all metrics in com-parison with its most direct peers,” Bosio said in a note.

The report added that the

banks’ aggregated loans and

advances to customers grew

by 4.5 percent to reach QR1.17

trillion, showing a steady

growth in 2020 despite the

implications of the COVID-19

pandemic.

China's economy picks up speed in fourth quarterREUTERS — BEIJING

China’s economy picked up speed in the fourth quarter, with growth beating expecta-tions as it ended a rough coro-navirus-striken 2020 in remarkably good shape and remained poised to expand further this year even as the global pandemic rages unabated.

Gross domestic product grew 2.3 percent in 2020, official data showed on Monday, making China the only major economy in the world to avoid a contraction last year as many nations struggled to contain the COVID-19 pan-demic. And China is expected to continue to power ahead of its peers this year, with GDP set to expand at the fastest pace in a decade at 8.4 percent, according to a Reuters poll.

The world’s second-largest economy has surprised many with the speed of its recovery from the coronavirus jolt, espe-cially as policymakers have also had to navigate tense US-China relations on trade and other fronts.

Beijing’s strict virus curbs enabled it to largely contain the COVID-19 outbreak much

quicker than most countries, while government-led policy stimulus and local manufac-turers stepping up production to supply goods to many coun-tries crippled by the pandemic have also helped fire up momentum.

GDP expanded 6.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, quicker than the 6.1 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and followed the third quarter’s solid 4.9 percent growth.

“The higher-than-expected GDP number indicates that growth has stepped into the expansionary zone, although some sectors remain in recovery,” said Xing Zhaopeng, economist at ANZ in Shanghai.

“Policy exiting will pose counter-cyclical pressures on 2021 growth.”

Backed by the strict virus containment measures and policy stimulus, the economy has recovered steadily from a steep 6.8 percent slump in the first three months of 2020, when an outbreak of COVID-19 in the central city of Wuhan turned into a full-blown epidemic.

03TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 2021 BUSINESS

In total, hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 51 million barrels in the six major petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to January 12.

The list of items likely to attract steeper duties is set to include appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners too, three of the sources said.

All 21 economists who

answered another question

said inflation would either pick

up significantly or stay around

the same as last year, but poll

median showed inflation

would average 1.7 percent and

1.9 percent this year and next,

respectively, below the Bank

of Canada’s target of 2.0

percent.

Economic recovery in Canada faltersamid renewed COVID-19 restrictionsREUTERS - BENGALURU

Canada’s economy will hit a major roadblock during the first quarter of 2021 before gaining momentum in the next quarter, according to economists in a Reuters poll who said the coun-try’s GDP would reach its pre-pandemic growth levels within a year.

Although economic activity had recovered partially from a record drop - 7.5 percent in Q1 and 38.1 percent in Q2 - in the first half of 2020, it took another hit after a resurgence in coronavirus infections led to renewed tight containment measures.

The January 11-18 Reuters poll of over 40 economists pre-dicted the economy, which grew a record annualised 40.5 percent in the third quarter of 2020, expanded 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter, a third con-secutive downgrade.

It was expected to grow just 0.7 percent this quarter - the weakest since polling began for that period in October 2019, with five of 18 contributors pre-dicting a contraction.

“With cases and hospitali-sations surging across Canada,

the second wave of the pan-demic threw a bucket of cold water on the economic recovery. Many businesses already weakened by the first bout of the crisis will find it harder to survive the second wave,” sa id Ksenia Bushmeneva, economist at TD.

“While the eventual ramp up in vaccine distribution offers hope of a strong economic rebound in the second half of the year, the economy is entering 2021 on a wobbly footing and could suffer a modest contraction in the first quarter.”

Despite expectations for a solid recovery from next quarter - primarily backed by vaccine optimism - the economy was forecast to grow 4.4 percent in 2021, the weakest prediction for the year since January 2020.

Still, nearly 70 percent, or 16 of 23 economists who replied to an additional question said Canadian GDP would reach pre-COVID-19 levels “within a year.” Five said “within two years” and two said “two or more years.”

“We expect Canadian GDP growth will pick up in Q2 and the following quarters as vaccine distribution ramps up, allowing for a more sustained easing in containment measures as 2021 progresses,” said Josh Nye, senior economist at RBC Economics.

Meanwhile, the unem-ployment rate, which edged up in December to 8.6 percent, was expected to slow to 7.0 percent and 6.2 percent by end-2021 and end-2022, respectively. If realised, that would still be above the pre-COVID-19 levels of around 5.5 percent.

All 21 economists who answered another question said

inflation would either pick up significantly or stay around the same as last year, but poll median showed inflation would average 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent this year and next, respectively, below the Bank of Canada’s target of 2.0 percent.

“While weak demand due to a worsening health situation should keep price pressures in check, we still expect a tem-porary acceleration in year-over-year inflation,” said Tony Stillo, director of Canada eco-nomics at Oxford Economics.

“However, the BoC will look through temporary bouts of higher inflation and keep m o n e t a r y p o l i c y accommodative.”

The central bank, which cut its key interest rate by a cumu-lative 150 basis points last year and implemented its first-ever quantitative easing program, was expected to hold the over-night rate at 0.25 percent through to end-2023 at least.

That was despite money markets seeing an increased chance of a less than 25 basis point cut by the BoC, which is scheduled to meet on January 20, as restrictions continued to impact the recovery.

Johnson, Sunak to meetbusiness leaders onCOVID-19 recoveryREUTERS - LONDON

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured) and finance minister Rishi Sunak were slated to meet and ask 30 business leaders yesterday for their thoughts on economic policy, part of efforts to explore ways of boosting growth in Britain outside the European Union.

After completing Britain’s journey out of the EU on December 31, Johnson, a fig-urehead of the Brexit campaign, is talking to businesses about policy ideas to boost growth now that the country is no longer bound by the bloc’s rules.

This is seen as increasingly pressing because the corona-virus pandemic, which has flared again largely because of a highly contagious new variant, has plunged Britain into a worse economic slump than almost all of its peers.

Alongside Sunak, Johnson will speak to the leaders of some of Britain’s largest companies, including British Airways, BT, pharmaceutical company Glax-oSmithKline and the country’s biggest carmaker, Indian-

owned Jaguar Land Rover. “The council later today is

co-chaired by the prime min-ister and the chancellor and it will be an opportunity for members to share their views on the economy and provide a perspective on policy in terms of the economic recovery as we move through, and hopefully out of the pandemic,” Johnson’s spokesman said.

The government is also setting up a “better regulation committee”, also chaired by Sunak, which will review regu-lation in Britain now the country is outside the European Union to try to better stimulate growth and attract new investment.

Indian billionaire Adani to raise $2.5bn from Total dealBLOOMBERG

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is raising $2.5bn from a deal that includes the sale of a minority stake in his renewables business to French energy giant Total SE, a transaction that may help the tycoon cut group debt.

Paris-based Total will acquire 20 percent of Adani Green Energy Ltd and a board seat as well as a 50 percent stake in a portfolio of operating solar assets with 2.35 gigawatts capacity, the company said yes-terday in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. But shares of Adani Green have more than quadrupled in value in the past year in Mumbai, giving the company a market value of about $20bn.

Adani is the latest Indian tycoon to raise money by selling a piece of his empire to an overseas partner, as rising con-sumption of electricity to fuels and mobile data makes the country an attractive destination for some investors. Last year, Mukesh Ambani -- India’s richest man -- mopped up about $27bn from Facebook Inc, Google and private-equity investors for his technology and retail ventures.

“Primarily, this fund infusion will help Adani lower its lev-erage,” said Chakri Lokapriya, chief executive officer at TCG Asset Management in Mumbai. “Thanks to a series of deals, Adani is highly leveraged at this point of time.”

The Adani group, which

started off as a commodities trader in 1988, has grown rapidly to become India’s top private-sector port operator and power generator. In 2019, Adani started focusing on airports, and now he’s trying to enter sectors including data storage and financial services. The group had an overall gross debt of 1.74 trillion rupees ($24 billion) as of end-September, according to a November report from Credit Suisse. Adani Enterprises Ltd., the biggest listed company in his group, had about $1.7bn of con-solidated debt as of March 2020, according to Brickwork Ratings.

The latest transaction marks Total’s third commitment to the Adani group. In 2019, the French

firm spent $600m to buy a 37.4 percent stake in Adani Gas Ltd, now called Adani Total Gas, and in February last year, acquired 50 percent of a solar assets joint venture.

“India is the right place to put into action our energy transition strategy based on two pillars: renewables and natural gas,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in the statement.

It’s also Total’s third deal in a week in the renewables area, fol-lowing the acquisition of a French biogas producer and of a stake in a large US solar portfolio, under-scoring mounting pressure from investors, governments and con-sumers on energy giants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Total, which invested $8bn from 2016 to 2020 in battery manufacturing, power utilities, solar and wind projects, intends to increase spending on elec-tricity and clean energy to become one of the top five renewable companies by the end of the decade.

The producer, which had close to 7 gigawatts of gross renewable power capacity at the end of last year, is targeting 35 gigawatts by 2025.

“Renewable energy investment will have to be ramped up and oil and gas super-majors have set themselves fairly stiff targets,” said Debasish Mishra, a Mumbai-based partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

A file photo of the entrance of Adani Green Energy Ltd’s solar power station located in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The solar portfolio of Adani Green Energy Limited is spread across 11 States in the country.

India budget seen raising import dutiesby up to 10% on many items: SourcesREUTERS - NEW DELHI

India is considering hiking import duties by 5 percent -10 percent on more than 50 items including smartphones, elec-tronic components and appli-ances in the upcoming budget, three government sources privy to the discussions told Reuters yesterday.

The move to increase import duties is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s self-reliant India campaign that aims to promote and support domestic manufacturing, said the sources, who asked not to be named as the discussions are not public.

One of the sources said the government was seeking to target additional revenue of about 200 billion to 210 billion rupees ($2.7bn to $2.8bn) from the moves, as it looks to shore up revenue amidst the pan-demic-driven slowdown that has stung the economy.

Two of the government sources also said the duty hikes could impact furniture and electric vehicles, potentially

hurting the likes of Swedish fur-niture maker Ikea and Tesla, which is planning to launch its cars in India this year.

The officials, however, did not specify how much of a hike was planned on furniture and electric vehicles.

Both Ikea and Tesla execu-tives have previously expressed concerns about the steep duty structure their products already face in India.

The list of items likely to attract steeper duties is set to include appliances such as refrigerators and air condi-tioners too, three of the sources said.

The finance ministry could not be reached by telephone and did not reply to an email seeking comments.

India’s finance minister will on February 1 unveil the gov-ernment’s annual federal budget for the 2021-22 financial year, which begins April 1.

The sources said the pro-posals may still be tweaked further before they are finalised.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the budget on February 1 amid the shadow of a projected economic contraction of 7.7 percent for the current fiscal year.

India has in recent years taken a series of measures that industry executives say discrim-inate against foreign companies. Government officials say such taxes are essential to promote India as a destination for local manufacturing and to support domestic businesses.

“This is part of revenue raising and Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) plan,” said one of the government sources.

Last year, India raised import taxes on a wide range of products such as footwear, fur-niture, toys, electrical and elec-tronics items by up to 20 percent.

Hedge fund positions in crude, petrol start to look stretchedREUTERS - LONDON

Hedge funds boosted their bullish petroleum positions last week, focusing on crude and petrol, betting on continued output restraint by OPEC+ and an early resumption in domestic business activity.

But they sold middle distil-lates, likely reflecting concerns about a slower re-opening of international borders and return to aviation, even as coronavirus vaccines are rolled out.

In total, hedge funds and other money managers pur-chased the equivalent of 51 million barrels in the six major petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to January 12. It was the largest wave of buying for seven weeks and takes the total since the middle of November to 450 million barrels, records published by ICE Futures Europe and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commision show.

Most of last week’s pur-chases established new bullish long positions (+41 million).

There were also some repu-chases of previous loss-making short positions (-10 million).

Buying was concentrated in Brent (+25 million barrels) and NYMEX and ICE WTI (+22 million) with smaller purchases in US petrol (+7 million), and sales of both US diesel (-1 million) and European gasoil (-2 million).

Funds hold a combined position in the six contracts equivalent to 805 million barrels, up from 356 million at the start of November, before successful vaccine trials were announced, though still down from 970 million this time last year. Bullish long positions out-number bearish short ones by a ratio of more than 5:1, up from less than 2:1 in early November, but down from 6:1 or even 7:1 at this point last year.

The combined position is in

the 77th percentile for all weeks since the start of 2013, while the ratio is in the 72nd percentile.

There is still some scope for bullish position-building, but the short-term balance of risks is starting to shift towards the downside.

In Brent, flat prices and especially calendar spreads have eased significantly since January 12, indicating a tem-porary hiatus in buying, and possibly even light profit-taking, as some of the froth is taken out of the market.

The petrol position appears particularly lopsided, with longs outnumbering shorts by almost 10:1, a ratio in the 84th per-centile for all weeks since 2013.

By contrast, the position in distillates was not stretched, with longs outnumbering shorts by only 2:1, a ratio in just the 52nd percentile.

FROM PAGE 1

The real estate trading volume chart during 2020 showed the highest rate of trading in the month of December, with a total value of QR5,432,928,328, while the trading rates recorded the second percentage recorded in August, amounting to QR4,156,341,940.

In view of the volume of transactions concluded in 2020, real estate trading witnessed its highest movement in September, when it recorded 696 real estate transactions, and July was the second highest movement of trading with 644 real estate deals, and the third highest trading rates were recorded in November with the number of 504 real estate deals.

The real estate market index revealed during 2020 that the municipalities of Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Daayen led the most active transactions in terms of financial value, followed by the municipalities of Al Wakra, Umm Salal, Al Khor and Al Thakhira, Al Shamal and Al Shahaniya. The deals traded included condo-miniums, vacant lands, mixed-use buildings and residences.

In terms of the area index, real estate trading indicators showed that the most active municipalities were Al Rayyan municipality with 22 percent, fol-lowed by Al Daayen municipality by 21 percent, then Doha munic-ipality with 20 percent of the

total traded areas, then Al-Wakra with 19%, followed by Umm Salal by 10%, Al Khor and Al Thakhira and Al Shamal at 4 percent each.

With regard to the movement of mortgage trading, the volume of mortgage trans-actions that took place during 2020 amounted to 1,409 mortgage transactions, with a total value of QR54,215,828,432.

Doha municipality recorded the highest number of mortgage transactions with 462 mortgage transactions, equivalent to 32.8 percent of the total number of mortgaged properties, followed by Al Rayyan municipality with 361 mortgage transactions, equivalent to 25.6 percent, fol-lowed by Al Daayen municipality with 265 mortgage transactions, equivalent to 18.8 percent of the number of mortgage transac-tions, then Al Wakra munici-pality with 119 mortgage trans-actions, equivalent to 8.4 percent of the number of mortgage transactions, and Umm Salal municipality with 117 mortgage transactions, equivalent to 8.3 percent of the number of mortgage transactions. This was followed by the municipality of Al Khor and Al Thakhira with 65 mortgage transactions, equiv-alent to 4.6 percent of the number of mortgage transac-tions, and finally Al Shamal municipality with 20 mortgage transactions, equivalent to 1.4 percent of the number of mortgage transactions.

Real Estate trading value exceeds QR31bn during 2020

04 TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 2021BUSINESS

Fossil fuel firms failing to curb climate gas leaksAP — BERLIN

The International Energy Agency says oil and gas companies aren’t doing enough to reduce the release of methane, a potent source of planet-heating emis-sions, that is seeping out of pipe-lines and production plants.

A report published yesterday by the Paris-based organisation found the estimated 10 percent drop in methane emissions from oil and gas companies last year was largely due to lower pro-duction amid a global decline in demand due to the pandemic.

It warned that the amount of methane released into the atmosphere as part of the pro-duction process for fossil fuels could rebound again as econ-omies recover, and called on countries and companies to do more to plug those leaks.

While carbon dioxide emis-sions from the burning of fossil fuels are the main source of greenhouse gases, methane con-tributes significantly to the problem as well because it is so much more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The IEA said its Methane Tracker report suggests the oil and gas industry worldwide

emitted more than 70 million metric tonnes of methane last year, equivalent to the total

energy-related CO2 emissions from the 27-nation European Union.

“There is no good reason to allow these harmful leaks to con-tinue, and there is every reason for responsible operators to ensure that they are addressed,” the agency’s executive director, Fatih Birol, was quoted as saying.

He added that governments could also help tackle the problem with more effective industry regulation.

Satellite imaging has become an increasingly important tool in pinpointing the source of man-made methane emissions in recent years.

The report showed that methane emissions decreased in Iraq, Kuwait, Turkmenistan and the United States last year, while increasing in Algeria, Kazakhstan and Russia, which saw a 32 percent rise in 2020 compared with the previous year.

Steam rises from cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant near Bergheim, Germany.

South Africa

Treasury eyes

tax hike to fund

vaccines

BLOOMBERG

South Africa’s National Treasury is considering raising taxes as one of several possible mechanisms to fund the vacci-nation drive against COVID-19, Business Day reported.

At this point South Africa is due to get 9 million doses from Johnson & Johnson, 1.5 million shots of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, 12 million through Covax and 12.25 million from the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, according to the daily newspaper.

The government viewed the vaccines as a public good and was committed to financing their roll out, with or without support from the private sector and medical schemes, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported, citing Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane.

Other options the Treasury is exploring include widening the budget deficit and re-pri-ori t is ing government spending. The pandemic was a good case for emergency funding, Business Day cited Mogajane as saying.

The department of health has estimated a maximum cost of 20 billion rand ($1.3bn) to vaccinate the entire country, while more recent internal estimates done by the Treasury are far lower than this, the newspaper said.

The government of Africa's most advanced economy is trying to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines after health workers and scientists criticised it for not moving fast enough to inoculate its people.

The report found that the

estimated 10 percent drop in

methane emissions from oil and

gas companies last year was

largely due to lower production

amid a global decline in demand

due to the pandemic.

UK seafood trucks protest at Parliament over Brexit red tapeAP — LONDON

Trucks owned by U.J. shellfish firms descended on Britain’s Parliament yesterday to protest the Brexit-related red tape they claim is suffocating their busi-nesses.

About a dozen large lorries - one bearing the words “Brexit carnage!” - drove past the Houses of Parliament in central London and parked outside Downing St., home to British Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson. Police spoke to the drivers, who could face fines for breaching coronavirus restrictions by making non-essential journeys.

British fishing communities were among the strongest supporters of leaving the European Union, because it promised the chance for the UK to leave the bloc’s complex system of fishing quotas and regain control over who is allowed to fish

in British waters. But now some in Brit-ain’s fishing industry say they are facing ruin because of new barriers to shipping their catch abroad. Last week, one Scottish fishing boss threatened to dump his rotting catch on politicians’ doorstep if the situ-ation did not improve.

Fishing rights became a major sticking point in the trade negotiations that fol-lowed the UK’s political departure from the bloc in January 2020, as European nations sought to retain access to waters where they have fished for decades or even centuries.

Under a new post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal signed last month, the EU’s share of the catch in British seas will be cut by 25 percent over a 5½-year transition period. After that, new quotas will have to be negotiated.

At the same time, Britain’s exit from the EU means new costs and red tape for

exporters - a major problem, since Britain exports most of the fish its boats catch.

Some fishing companies say the new restrictions have made it impossible to ship their catch to Europe. Some British fishermen have begun landing their catch in EU member Denmark to keep it in the bloc.

“If this debacle does not improve very soon we are looking at many established businesses coming to the end of the line,” said Alasdair Hughson, chairman of the

Scottish Creel Fisherman’s Federation. “From seabed to plate, this is not an easy business. People put their heart and soul into making it work, with ridiculously long hours,” he added.

Johnson’s Conservative government has called the issues “teething problems.” “We are working extremely closely with the fishing industry to look at how we can resolve temporary difficulties,” Johnson’s spokesman, Jamie Davies, said yesterday.

Lorries of Scottish seafood company D.R. Collin & Son are seen on a street during a protest against post-Brexit bureaucracy that has stopped them exporting to the European Union, in London, Britain, yesterday.

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 10,863.27 +0.02 %

QE Total Return Index 20,884.28 +0.02 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index - Price 2,458.05 -0.04 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,385.08 -0.04 %

QE All Share Index 3,327.15 +0.10 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 4,374.63 -0.22 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,297.67 +0.70 %

QE All Share Transportation 3,564.94 +0.50 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,933.90 +0.63 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,521.24 +1.16 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,117.66 -0.45 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 8,227.67 -0.07 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

18-01-2021Index 10,863.27Change +2.55% +0.02%YTD% +4.09Volume 166,383,206Value (QAR) 582,347,798.88Trades 9,158Up 22 | Down 24 | Unchanged 03

17-01-2021Index 10,860.72

Change -53.11

% -0.49%

YTD% +4.07

Volume 95,617,303

Value (QAR) 247,027,350.86

Trades 5,281

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR226.00 per grammeSILVER QR3.00 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Dow Jones Industrial Average 30,814.26 -177.26 -0.57%

S&P 500 3,768.25 -27.29 -0.72%

Nasdaq Composite Index 12,998.50 -114.14 -0.87%

FTSE 100 Index 6,720.65 -15.06 -0.22%

DAX Index 13,848.35 +60.62 +0.44%

CAC 40 Index 5,617.27 +5.58 +0.10%

Nikkei Stock Average 225 28,242.21 -276.97 -0.97%

Hang Seng Index 28,862.77 +288.91 +1.01%

Shanghai Composite Index 3,596.22 +29.85 +0.84%

ASX All Ordinaries Index 6,935.40 -51.40 -0.74%

Currency Selling (QAR) Buying (QAR)

US$ 3.6500 3.6305

Australian Dollar AUD 2.86 2.79

Bangladeshi Taka BDT 0.045 0.042

Canadian Dollar CAD 2.92 2.86

Euro EUR 4.52 4.4

Indian Rupee INR 0.052 0.05

Japanese Yen JPY 0.0355 0.0348

Malaysian Ringgit MYR 0.92 0.885

Nepalese Rupee NPR 0.033 0.031

Pakistani Rupee PKR 0.02326 0.02273

Philippine Peso PHP 0.079 0.075

Pound Sterling GBP 5.03 4.92

South African Rand ZAR 0.25 0.245

Sri Lankan Rupee LKR 0.02 0.019

Swiss Franc CHF 4.16 4.09

Turkish Lira TRY 0.505 0.50

QNBK - QNB 18.49 18.55 18.47 18.75 3,814 18.69 18.56 468,388 18.56 18.56 +0.07 +0.38 921 5,569,552 103,670,363.71

QIBK - Qatar Islamic Bank 17.59 17.55 17.27 17.55 1,000 17.28 17.27 34,100 17.28 17.28 -0.31 -1.76 548 3,582,226 62,038,332.10

CBQK - Comm. Bank of Qatar 4.415 4.42 4.40 4.42 20,000 4.42 4.412 1,500 4.42 4.420 0.00 +0.11 243 4,284,152 18,917,122.29

DHBK - Doha Bank 2.406 2.405 2.400 2.417 87,223 2.417 2.404 250,000 2.416 2.42 +0.010 +0.42 39 1,129,823 2,719,121.972

ABQK - Ahli Bank 3.60 3.795 3.79 3.85 5,000 3.84 3.606 4,000 3.85 0.00 +0.25 +6.94 4 5,912 22,619.92

QIIK - Intl. Islamic Bank 9.441 9.441 9.360 9.490 13,000 9.403 9.389 20,000 9.403 9.403 -0.038 -0.40 141 1,236,096 11,622,644.195

MARK - Rayan 4.594 4.58 4.57 4.59 12,250 4.58 4.576 10,000 4.58 4.58 -0.01 -0.30 224 3,017,561 13,821,589.64

KCBK - Al khalij Commercial Bank 2.189 2.180 2.170 2.188 10,562 2.188 2.187 50 2.188 2.188 -0.001 -0.05 190 4,603,372 10,059,083.666

QFBQ - Qatar First Bank (QFC) 1.792 1.800 1.730 1.800 172,862 1.745 1.743 1,000 1.745 1.745 -0.047 -2.62 500 23,944,488 42,202,927.510

QETF - QE Index ETF 10.712 10.64 10.64 10.64 0 0.0 10.6 41,373 10.64 10.656 -0.07 -0.67 1 9,089 96,706.96

QATR - Al Rayan Qatar ETF 2.453 2.443 2.44 2.45 1,155 2.537 2.45 200 2.45 2.45 -0.00 -0.12 30 215,871 528,847.27

QATI - Qatar Insurance 2.545 2.54 2.50 2.55 51,623 2.53 2.526 21,850 2.53 2.530 -0.01 -0.59 42 1,300,657 3,290,157.60

DOHI - Doha Insurance 1.498 1.498 1.48 1.52 15,430 1.5 1.451 7,550 1.50 0.000 0.00 +0.13 11 150,555 225,665.35

QLMI - QLM 3.908 3.908 3.765 3.908 213,233 3.765 3.753 2,000 3.765 3.765 -0.143 -3.66 350 4,567,329 17,509,884.932

QGRI - General Insurance 2.40 2.60 2.400 2.636 2,969 2.63 2.628 700 2.634 0.00 +0.234 +9.75 9 8,820 22,802.372

AKHI - Alkhaleej Takaful 1.964 1.940 1.940 1.965 30,000 1.965 1.964 50,000 1.965 1.965 +0.001 +0.05 37 676,236 1,322,651.905

QISI - Islamic Insurance 7.061 7.10 7.10 7.10 1,000 7.13 7.076 1,132 7.10 0.000 +0.04 +0.55 1 10 71.00

QAMC - QAMCO 0.975 0.972 0.966 0.975 291,692 0.975 0.971 6,389 0.975 0.975 0.000 0.00 166 3,896,920 3,778,997.537

QIMD - Ind. Manf. Co. 3.229 3.229 3.229 3.229 2,500 3.227 3.032 30,000 3.229 0.000 0.000 0.00 1 1,638 5,289.102

QNCD - National Cement Co. 4.255 4.299 4.155 4.299 30,762 4.249 4.2 10,979 4.249 0.000 -0.006 -0.14 40 211,690 891,171.053

ZHCD - Zad Holding Company 15.00 15.00 14.90 15.24 24,068 15.0 14.9 1,000 14.99 0.00 -0.01 -0.07 25 51,184 764,131.51

IQCD - Industries Qatar 12.00 11.95 11.86 12.18 14,900 12.15 11.95 29,119 12.15 12.15 +0.15 +1.25 220 1,267,707 15,277,037.31

UDCD - United Dev. Company 1.615 1.620 1.615 1.672 53,034 1.654 1.653 1,061,044 1.653 1.653 +0.038 +2.35 567 8,871,402 14,504,579.981

QGMD - Qatar German Co. Med 2.36 2.365 2.365 2.596 0 0.0 MP 4,495,683 2.596 2.596 +0.236 +10.00 694 19,734,218 49,338,402.917

QIGD - The Investors 1.807 1.792 1.792 1.837 44,903 1.835 1.834 503,513 1.834 1.834 +0.027 +1.49 113 3,222,679 5,863,045.576

ORDS - Ooredoo 8.442 8.447 8.200 8.457 503 8.375 8.372 6,929 8.375 8.375 -0.067 -0.79 666 3,487,386 29,273,054.960

QEWS - Electricity & Water 18.40 18.32 18.27 18.49 20,666 18.44 18.33 5,500 18.44 18.44 +0.04 +0.22 225 730,788 13,405,138.93

SIIS - Salam International 0.638 0.64 0.64 0.64 150,000 0.641 0.64 175,597 0.64 0.640 0.00 +0.31 137 5,422,503 3,463,740.35

BLDN - Baladna 1.725 1.721 1.715 1.725 58,376 1.725 1.724 10,000 1.725 1.725 0.000 0.00 143 4,877,517 8,392,909.685

NLCS - National Leasing 1.25 1.244 1.236 1.254 210,968 1.249 1.243 200,000 1.249 1.249 -0.001 -0.08 115 3,248,055 4,032,220.926

QNNS - Qatar Navigation 7.76 7.88 7.60 7.88 80,000 7.73 7.72 10,000 7.73 7.730 -0.03 -0.39 194 1,631,869 12,564,299.23

MCGS - Medicare 8.92 8.91 8.76 8.91 2,250 8.968 8.85 8,637 8.85 8.85 -0.07 -0.78 18 35,798 316,003.15

QCFS - Cinema 3.531 0.000 0.000 0.000 7,447 3.884 3.541 1,500 3.531 0.000 0.000 0.00 0 0 0.000

QFLS - Qatar Fuel 19.14 19.10 19.01 19.20 19,067 19.15 19.11 28,626 19.15 19.15 +0.01 +0.05 67 1,025,509 19,609,697.64

WDAM - Widam 6.299 6.279 6.275 6.300 30,000 6.296 6.275 285 6.275 0.000 -0.024 -0.38 21 114,048 717,152.785

GWCS - Gulf warehousing Co 5.17 5.17 5.15 5.19 50,000 5.165 5.16 5,000 5.16 5.16 -0.01 -0.19 49 1,585,910 8,186,172.69

QGTS - Nakilat 3.409 3.35 3.35 3.45 237,648 3.45 3.423 50 3.45 3.450 +0.04 +1.20 273 3,598,387 12,321,004.49

DBIS - Dlala 1.762 1.74 1.74 1.77 4,000 1.755 1.75 45,979 1.75 1.75 -0.01 -0.68 131 1,657,469 2,916,913.93

BRES - Barwa 3.516 3.51 3.50 3.52 228,696 3.51 3.5 29,031 3.50 3.50 -0.02 -0.46 163 1,278,742 4,483,411.95

MCCS - Mannai Corp. 2.945 2.970 2.950 2.997 22,031 2.988 2.962 71,893 2.988 2.99 +0.043 +1.46 33 221,562 662,259.374

AHCS - Aamal 0.83 0.837 0.821 0.837 201,350 0.834 0.826 30,000 0.834 0.834 +0.004 +0.48 71 1,871,376 1,545,997.926

QOIS - Qatar Oman 0.854 0.842 0.83 0.86 356 0.85 0.849 1,751,025 0.85 0.000 -0.00 -0.47 48 1,580,655 1,340,454.61

ERES - Ezdan Holding 1.658 1.658 1.640 1.669 145,337 1.664 1.66 10,819 1.664 1.664 +0.006 +0.36 228 5,484,758 9,073,874.392

IHGS - Inma 5.20 5.200 5.185 5.500 5,555 5.418 5.402 3,033,646 5.402 5.402 +0.202 +3.88 619 7,493,217 39,936,308.131

GISS - Gulf International 1.679 1.666 1.635 1.684 403,558 1.646 1.639 207,000 1.646 1.646 -0.033 -1.97 240 5,788,781 9,541,095.495

MPHC - Mesaieed 2.063 2.060 2.054 2.074 123,956 2.074 2.069 1,755 2.074 2.074 +0.011 +0.53 133 1,858,656 3,839,392.468

IGRD - Investment Holding 0.567 0.565 0.558 0.568 333,214 0.563 0.561 592,593 0.561 0.561 -0.006 -1.06 229 15,636,353 8,776,718.247

VFQS - Vodafone Qatar 1.44 1.440 1.434 1.458 241,788 1.449 1.44 7,000 1.449 1.449 +0.009 +0.62 74 1,809,464 2,602,948.569

MERS - Al Meera 21.00 21.00 20.70 21.00 1,792 20.8 20.73 2,000 20.80 0.00 -0.20 -0.95 59 61,909 1,293,928.86

MRDS - Mazaya 1.298 1.29 1.28 1.30 252,000 1.29 1.285 100,000 1.29 1.290 -0.01 -0.62 105 4,323,307 5,559,852.71