qp signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with india’s

16
Thursday, September 13, 2018 Moharram 3, 1440 AH BUSINESS GULF TIMES Inflation falls below RBI target in Aug Apple unveils larger iPhones and watches RUPEE WOES | Page 13 HEALTH FOCUS | Page 15 QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s Haldia Q atar Petroleum has signed a three- year sale agreement to supply In- dia’s Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) in the West Bengal state, with a total of 600,000 tonnes of light naphtha. The deal signed for and on behalf of Qatar Petroleum for the Sale of Petro- leum Products Company (QPSPP), will start this year, QP said yesterday. This long-term supply agreement is the first QPSPP naphtha feedstock sale to an end-user in India, highlighting QPSPP push for more direct sales with established end-users. Marking this important milestone, QP president and CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said, “India is a very important country and energy partner for Qatar and we are proud of our longstanding excellent partnership. Qatar Petroleum Group of Companies con- tinue to explore new opportunities with Indian counterparts to further enhance our co-operation on all fronts, and to effectively contribute to satisfying India’s growing de- mand for energy. “Qatar supplies Indian end-users with LNG, crude oil, condensate, LPG and other fuels; and we are proud to be able to strengthen our energy relations with India through HPL as an energy partner for the direct supply of naphtha feedstock.” HPL is one of the largest petrochemi- cal companies in India. It has a competi- tive modern naphtha based petrochemical complex located some 125km from Kolkata, with a total capacity equivalent to 700,000 tonnes per annual of ethylene. QNB REPORT: Page 16 Qatar bank sector sees 3.5% growth in credit, 5.3% surge in deposits “India is a very important country and energy partner for Qatar and we are proud of our longstanding excellent partnership. Qatar Petroleum Group of Companies continue to explore new opportunities with Indian counterparts to further enhance our co-operation on all fronts” Al-Kaabi: Strengthening energy relations with India.

Upload: others

Post on 16-Oct-2021

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

Thursday, September 13, 2018Moharram 3, 1440 AH

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

Infl ation falls below RBI target in Aug

Apple unveils larger iPhones and watches

RUPEE WOES | Page 13 HEALTH FOCUS | Page 15

QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s HaldiaQatar Petroleum has signed a three-

year sale agreement to supply In-dia’s Haldia Petrochemicals Limited

(HPL) in the West Bengal state, with a total of 600,000 tonnes of light naphtha.

The deal signed for and on behalf of Qatar Petroleum for the Sale of Petro-leum Products Company (QPSPP), will start this year, QP said yesterday.

This long-term supply agreement is the fi rst QPSPP naphtha feedstock sale to an end-user in India, highlighting QPSPP push for more direct sales with established end-users.

Marking this important milestone, QP president and CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi

said, “India is a very important country and energy partner for Qatar and we are proud of our longstanding excellent partnership. Qatar Petroleum Group of Companies con-tinue to explore new opportunities with

Indian counterparts to further enhance our co-operation on all fronts, and to eff ectively contribute to satisfying India’s growing de-mand for energy.

“Qatar supplies Indian end-users with LNG, crude oil, condensate, LPG and other fuels; and we are proud to be able to strengthen our energy relations with India through HPL as an energy partner for the direct supply of naphtha feedstock.”

HPL is one of the largest petrochemi-cal companies in India. It has a competi-tive modern naphtha based petrochemical complex located some 125km from Kolkata, with a total capacity equivalent to 700,000 tonnes per annual of ethylene.

QNB REPORT: Page 16

Qatar bank sector sees 3.5% growth in credit, 5.3% surge in deposits

“India is a very important country and energy partner for Qatar and we are proud of our longstanding excellent partnership. Qatar Petroleum Group of Companies continue to explore new opportunities with Indian counterparts to further enhance our co-operation on all fronts”

Al-Kaabi: Strengthening energy relations with India.

Page 2: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 13, 20182

Saudi group seeks to stop banks claiming assets after defaultBloombergDubai

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co will seek to prevent Arab National Bank and another lender from claiming assets of the Saudi Arabian company to settle outstanding loans, according to its acting chief executive off icer.Algosaibi will oppose the move because the assets are meant to be frozen by a royal decree to ensure all creditors are treated fairly, Simon Charlton said in an interview in Dubai, without naming the second bank. The dispute over the portfolio of publicly-traded Saudi equities and accumulated dividends is now before a Saudi court

appointed to oversee claims against the company, he said.Algosaibi and billionaire Maan al-Sanea’s Saad Group, two Saudi family holding companies, defaulted on about $15bn of loans in 2009 as the global economic crisis froze credit markets and asset prices slumped. The companies and banks are now in talks over how to resolve what was the Middle East’s largest-ever default.“Banks who have claims against Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co have gone to court and most of them have obtained judgments,” Robert Eid, Arab National Bank’s CEO said in an emailed response to questions. “Enforcement of judgments can only take place through the judicial system.”

ANB “has spearheaded eff orts to form a lenders’ group, with the objective of reaching an out-of-court settlement” with “little success,” Eid said. “Banks remain though open to discuss any fair and equitable settlement agreement.”Algosaibi will also dispute a decision by the Capital Market Authority to allow Samba Financial Group and Saudi British Bank to take about 3bn riyals ($800mn) of shares from portfolio accounts owned by AHAB, Charlton said.“You can’t be taking away these assets and still claim 100% of your debt in the restructuring process,” Charlton said. “And these assets were frozen by royal order to protect the interests of all creditors, not a select few.”

Battered by the lira, Turkish fi rms await rate decisionBloombergIstanbul

An interest rate hike by Turkey’s central bank today might just be the lesser of two evils for

the country’s companies.On the one hand, a steep rate in-

crease could stem the slide in the lira that has boosted dollar-debt costs by more than 40% this year. On the other, pausing would spare the al-ready bruised balance sheets of com-panies, which have had to contend with a near doubling in local borrow-ing costs.

“Unfortunately, there is only a bad scenario and a worse scenario for the Turkish corporate sector,” said Inan Demir, an emerging-markets econo-mist at Nomura International Plc in London. “If the central bank deliv-ers a convincing rate hike, the cur-rency will stabilise. The net eff ect of a strong rate hike is more positive for companies.”

The lira’s plunge against the dollar in 2018, second only to Argentina’s peso, means policy makers have little choice. The central bank will proba-bly increase its benchmark one-week repo rate by 325 basis points to 21% at its monetary policy committee meeting this week, according to the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomb-erg survey. Nomura’s Demir says a 575 basis-point increase is needed to bolster the currency.

The lira rallied 1.2% to 6.3562 per dollar as of 3.57pm in Istanbul yes-terday, extending gains this month to 2.9%, mainly in anticipation of an interest rate hike. Still, the cen-tral bank is unlikely to do enough to stem the currency’s decline this week, even if it meets expectations for a rate increase of 325 basis points, according to Standard Chartered Plc.

Higher borrowing costs, the lira’s depreciation and a spike in infl ation to 15-year highs are starting to bite, according to a business group in the town of Gebze, the nation’s third-biggest industrial zone with more than 230,000 workers and thousands of companies.

“We’ve been hearing that some of our member companies are not even able to pay their power bills,” said Nail Ciler, head of the Gebze Chamber of Commerce. “If this goes on, and no comprehensive solution backed by government support is found, we may see mass redundan-cies.”

The latest rout in the currency followed a row with the US over an American pastor held in Turkey for

almost two years on espionage and terrorism-related charges.

Companies have come in their droves to reorganise their debt and extend loan maturities, includ-ing $6.5bn by Yildiz Holding AS, the producer of Godiva chocolates and McVitie’s biscuits, and $2.5bn by Salt Bae owner Dogus Holding AS. While most companies are able to handle refi nancing risks over the next 12 to 18 months, the slow-

ing economy and tighter liquidity conditions, could cause corporate access to loans to reduce, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Tuesday.

“A sequential jump of more than 7% in bad debt in June and the ris-ing number of restructuring re-quests prove the weak lira is taking its toll on non-fi nancial corporates,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tomasz Noetzel. These companies

have more than $200bn of unhedged foreign-exchange positions, which might make it diffi cult for banks to roll over about $100bn of debt com-ing due in the next 12 months, he said.

“The biggest problem is in com-panies that import goods with for-eign currencies and sell products in Turkish liras,” said Ciler of the Gebze chamber. “They just can’t cope with the mismatch.”

Dubai contractor closes at record low as fate hangs in balance

BloombergDubai

Drake & Scull International

PJSC plunged to a record low

as the Dubai-based contract-

ing firm failed to stem a rout

even after clarifying its share-

holders’ meeting agenda.

The shares plunged 10%, the

maximum allowed in a day,

taking the loss this year to

82%. That compares with a 17%

drop for the benchmark Dubai

Financial Market General Index

this year.

The company said yesterday

shareholders will meet on Sep-

tember 27 to consider a resolu-

tion to continue or dissolve its

operations after accumulated

losses exceeded 50% of the

issued share capital. It later

clarified that agenda item is a

“mere legal requirement” and

it “doesn’t mean there is an

intent to dissolve.”

Drake & Scull, which stacked

up losses in the past three

years and rejigged its top

management, has been

restructuring as the decline in

oil prices forced developers

to defer payments and delay

projects.

Erdogan names himself Turkey wealth fund chairman in shakeupBloombergAnkara

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appoint-ed himself chairman of Turkey’s sover-eign wealth fund and got rid of the entire

management staff that had presided over two years of inaction. Zafer Sonmez, head of Tur-key and Africa for Malaysia’s government in-vestment vehicle Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was named general manager. Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, will also sit on the board, according to a decree published in the Offi cial Gazette.

The overhaul comes two years after the gov-ernment formed the fund to capitalise on $200bn of state assets. But the fund’s goals and strategy were never clearly defi ned and internal strife led to the fi ring of its fi rst chief executive offi cer after Erdogan publicly expressed his disappointment.

Erdogan had promised in an interview with Bloomberg in May to exert greater infl uence on economic policy after he was given expanded executive powers following an election in June.

He’s delivered on that pledge, ousting the old guard of policy makers who’d guided the economy since 2002 and giving himself the sole authority to make appointments at the central bank and other state organisations.

The wealth fund has stakes in assets includ-ing Turkish Airlines, Turk Telekom, state lend-ers TC Ziraat Bankasi AS and Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS, state oil and pipeline companies, the national postal service, the stock exchange, the national lottery and national railway.

Since its formation, offi cials have debated the purpose of the fund, with some saying the companies should be managed to add value in line with a traditional sovereign vehicle, while others argued that its assets could be deployed to subdue market turmoil. Others pushed for the assets to be securitised and for the state to borrow against them.

In the shakeup, Erdogan ousted one of his own advisers from the board, Yigit Bulut. The new board members include Rifat Hisarcik-lioglu, head of the Turkish chambers of com-merce; Huseyin Aydin, head of the banking association and Ziraat CEO; Arda Ermut, the head of Turkey’s investment support and pro-motion agency; Erisah Arican, a professor and member of the Borsa Istanbul board; and busi-nessman Fuat Tosyali.

People gather during an auction for vehicles and other possessions belonging to billionaire Maan al-Sanea and his company in Dammam on March 18, 2018. Algosaibi and al-Sanea’s Saad Group, two Saudi family holding companies, defaulted on about $15bn of loans in 2009 as the global economic crisis froze credit markets and asset prices slumped.

Turkey’s central bank headquarters is seen in Ankara (file). The central bank will probably increase its benchmark one-week repo rate by 325 basis points to 21% at its monetary policy committee meeting today, according to the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

A customer counts his US dollar notes in a bank in Cairo (file). Egypt announced a raft of additional import tariff s on various goods, the off icial gazette said yesterday, its first such attempt at curbing dollar spending since 2016. The charges include an additional 20% tariff on machinery and equipment imported by tourist establishments, as well as increases to fruit juices and baby formula. Egypt, which relies heavily on imports, raised tariff rates on a wide range of imports amid an acute foreign currency shortage in 2016. The head of the Egyptian customs authority, Sayed Negm, said that 3,495 items of raw material and capital goods out of a total of 5,791 were not aff ected by the decision.

Egypt imposes new import tariffs to curb dollar spend

Page 3: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS3Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

How bank employees emerged from the crash $12.5bn richerBloombergNew York

Stock options granted at the depths of

the financial crisis have yielded billions

of dollars for employees at some of the

biggest US banks, while others saw the

promise of massive payouts vanish as

shares of their firms languished.

Goldman Sachs Group, Wells

Fargo & Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co

employees reaped about $12.5bn from

stock options exercised in the decade

since the collapse of Lehman Broth-

ers Holdings, as some bank stocks

rebounded smartly.

At Morgan Stanley, Bank of America

Corp and Citigroup, millions of options

were canceled or expired worthless

amid fallout from the worst economic

disaster since the Great Depression.

“Some benefited and some didn’t -

that’s the point of performance-based

compensation,” said Fabrizio Ferri, an

associate professor of accounting at the

University of Miami. “The skeptic will

say it wasn’t so much the performance

of people, but factors outside their

control, and they benefited from being

at the right place at the right time.”

The collapse subjected banks to

intense criticism from lawmakers and

millions of Americans who lost homes

and jobs. Today, most of those firms

are less profitable than they were in

the run-up to the 2008 crash, partly as

a result of more stringent regulation.

Investors scrutinised compensation

programmes, blamed for fuelling

excessive risk-taking, and pushed

boards to rein in pay while tying it

more strongly to performance. Still,

bank employees in general are doing

just fine. While some were forced

to adjust their standard of living,

financial-services jobs remain among

the best-paying in corporate America.

Last year’s bonus pool for workers

at US banks was the largest since 2007,

according to a survey by law firm

Linklaters. And some option awards

granted during the crisis, meant to

persuade workers to ride out the

storm, have paid off handsomely in the

long run.

Such was the case at Goldman

Sachs. In December 2008, the bank

awarded about 36mn options and

20.6mn restricted shares to persuade

top employees and some directors

to stick around. The options, with a

$78.78 strike price, have generated

almost $3bn in pretax gains for work-

ers, according to data compiled from

regulatory filings. Shares of Goldman

have almost tripled since, closing on

Tuesday at $230.21.

In total, employees at the bank have

reaped $4.9bn from options exercised

over the past decade.

Wells Fargo workers realized about

$4.4bn in pretax gains on options

over the same period, thanks in part

to 80.7mn contracts granted in early

2009, when the bank’s shares plunged

to a 13-year low.

At JPMorgan, whose stock outper-

formed all of its largest peers since

Lehman filed for bankruptcy, employ-

ees took home almost $3.2bn from the

exercise of options and similar awards.

Among the beneficiaries is chief ex-

ecutive off icer Jamie Dimon, who got a

2008 performance award entitling him

to as many as 2mn stock apprecia-

tion rights - securities that resemble

options and typically settle in cash.

The performance requirements were

deemed to be satisfied in 2014, and

Dimon exercised the SARs last year for

$112mn, with almost three-quarters of

that withheld for taxes.

Those gains aside, almost 190mn

options held by JPMorgan workers

were cancelled or forfeited over the

past decade. Aside from shares with-

held for taxes, Dimon hasn’t sold any

stock since he joined the firm in 2004.

While the three banks haven’t dis-

closed the number of employees who

received options, regulatory filings

show that senior executives and board

members collected only some of them,

indicating that they likely weren’t

reserved just for senior management.

Representatives for the six banks

didn’t provide comments or respond to

messages.

Most of them have done away with

options and now off er equity awards

such as restricted shares that are

sometimes linked to performance

goals. JPMorgan is the only one of

the six that still grants options, having

done so as recently as last year.

Those who advocate using restrict-

ed stock say it makes recipients less

prone to take undue risks because the

securities will retain value unless the

issuer goes bankrupt. Options, which

convey the right to buy shares at the

preset strike price, are worthless if the

stock fails to eclipse that threshold.

Goldman Sachs Group headquarters in New York. Goldman, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan employees reaped about $12.5bn from stock options exercised in the decade since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings, as some bank stocks rebounded smartly.

South Africa business confi dence drops to 1-year low in August

BloombergJohannesburg

South African business con-fi dence fell to a 12-month low in August, with the

nation “losing its edge” as policy uncertainty weighs on economic prospects.

The index decreased to 90.5 in August, the Johannesburg- based South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Africa’s most-industrialised economy slipped into its fi rst recession in almost a decade in the second quarter as President Cyril Ramaphosa tries to re-store confi dence battered by al-most nine years of misrule by his predecessor.

It also comes as the ruling Af-rican National Congress pushes changes to the constitution to make it easier to seize land with-out compensation and uncer-tainty lingers over mining rules that have hindered investment. The nation is the world’s biggest platinum producer.

“Once being a healthy and di-verse economy in Africa, South Africa has lost its edge,” with mining “missing out on the op-portunities of the commodity-price cycle,” the chamber said. The policy environment “has been at odds with the objectives of continuous long-term eco-nomic growth and employment, with the varying positions be-ing diffi cult to co-ordinate in an all-inclusive framework, it said. “Demanding and stark choices may be necessary.”

The rand has slumped 18% against the dollar this year, the worst-performing major cur-rency after Brazil’s real, amid concerns about an escalating US-China trade war and emerg-ing-market risks.

While exporters benefi t from a weaker rand, this has weighed on the business climate, the cham-ber said. The gauges measuring exports, retail sales, infl ation, metals and the exchange rate de-clined from the previous month, it said.

The medium-term budget policy statement that Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene will present October 24 is the next big challenge for business sen-timent and the currency, the chamber said.

The government had tax shortfalls of 30bn rand ($2bn) and 49bn rand in the past two fiscal years and said in Febru-ary it will narrow the budget deficit to 3.6% of gross domes-tic product in 2018-19 from 4.3% last year.

A $257bn asset manager has a MiFID warning for small fi rmsBloombergCopenhagen

The head of Nordea Asset Man-agement says new rules target-ing confl icts of interest in his in-

dustry are instead hurting smaller fund managers as they struggle to keep up.

Nils Bolmstrand, chief executive of-fi cer of Nordea Asset Management, a unit of Nordea Bank AB that oversees about $257bn, says the rules may end up being a case of the medicine killing the patient.

Europe’s revised Markets in Finan-cial Instruments Directive, which took eff ect at the beginning of this year, was designed to improve transparency and end confl icts of interest across the fi -

nancial industry. MiFID II has already been criticised by some for seeming to erode incentives to provide adequate research for investors in smaller com-panies, given the new pricing require-ments.

But Bolmstrand says he’s “more con-cerned about smaller competitors” in the asset management industry, and how MiFID II will aff ect them. The ad-ditional expense of having to pay for re-search that they once got for free could make life diffi cult for many, he said.

“I would be more worried about the fact that there could be asset manag-ers who don’t have a suffi cient size to build up the internal capabilities to do research and where it gets more costly for them now actually to be able to buy that expertise,” Bolmstrand said.

Scandinavia has seen rising wealth levels coincide with a growing number of asset managers.

At the start of the new millennium, Sweden’s four big banks, including Nordea, controlled 85% of that coun-try’s market. That’s since dropped to 59%, industry data shows. But the new rules might end up dramatically changing the region’s asset manage-ment landscape, with only the biggest surviving.

Pension funds and insurers are also cooling to the asset management in-dustry, citing infl ated fees.

Bolmstrand says Nordea Asset Man-agement is big enough to weather the change. It has also largely been shield-ed from Nordea Bank AB’s plan to move ahead with 6,000 job cuts, two- thirds

of which are full-time employees. The bank’s asset management unit has stood out for its effi ciency, with a cost- to-income ratio of around 30% versus an industry average of around 55%.

“It’s been a growing division with a clearly lower-than- peers cost levels compared to other asset managers,” Bolmstrand said.

But “income is less resilient than it has been historically, and in that, it be-comes a scale game to some extent,” he said.

Nordea Asset Management is try-ing to build a bigger presence by off er-ing other managers’ products under its own label (now around €20bn) and in some cases becoming a shareholder in the companies. In July, it bought a 40% stake in Madrague Capital Partners

and may make more such deals, Bolm-strand said. “Although we are by Nordic standards a very large asset manager, by global standards we are not,” he said. “In order to have the product breadth to be relevant to our distributors and our customers in all asset classes, some-times we can’t build that competence and it’s easier to outsource.”

MiFID II makes having a full palate of products more critical, he said. Banks are whittling down the number of as-set managers with which they do busi-ness to cut their costs, Bolmstrand said. Smaller asset managers may fi nd merg-ing their only option.

Still, “I think everyone in the Nord-ics is well served by a vibrant and well-functioning asset management indus-try,” he said.

Biggest buyout fi nancings ask investors to loosen termsBloombergLondon

The year’s biggest buyout fi nanc-ing, backing the $20bn acquisi-tion of Thomson Reuters Corp’s

spinoff , Refi nitiv, is challenging some hard-won investor protections.

Arrangers are taking advantage of strong demand for the $13.5bn debt package to weaken key covenants. They’re also pushing the deal through quickly, limiting the time buyers have to analyse all the small print.

It’s a similar story for debt that’s fi -nancing the buyout of Akzo Nobel NV’s speciality chemicals unit. The deals are bucking a trend of investor pushback in Europe this year.

“Investors should be wary of buy-ing paper with such sparse protec-tions ahead of a potential economic downturn during which investors will need the full force of a strong covenant package,” said Sabrina Fox, head of Eu-ropean high-yield research at Covenant Review LLC.

In recent months power has shifted back in favour of high-yield investors, particularly in Europe, where at least 11 deals have either been delayed or with-drawn so far this year, and swathes of transactions that priced were heavily amended.

Europe’s loan investors have se-cured documentary or pricing chang-es on 89% of deals so far this year, with deals now likely to see an aver-age of six changes during syndication, according to a research report by Debt Explained.

Blackstone Group LP, which leads a consortium buying a majority stake in Thomson Reuters Corp’s fi nancial ter-minal business, is seeking greater free-dom to pay dividends or stock repur-chases even in default. The terms of the

funding arrangements also include a so-called mutation to the restricted pay-ments covenant, allowing for the distri-bution of assets to equity holders even if the company becomes distressed.

“It’s hard to keep up with all the tricks and traps buried in the cov-enants,” Xtract Research analyst Justin Smith wrote in a report on Tuesday.

Commitments for Refi nitiv’s term loans have been brought forward to Friday from September 17 while next week’s Paris and Amsterdam bond meetings were cancelled, suggesting the notes will also see an accelerated timeline. Some looking at the transac-

tions have highlighted a time lag in the documentation from when they were underwritten by the arranging banks to the actual launch date.

The terms for both AkzoNobel Spe-ciality Chemicals and Refi nitiv may have been agreed as far back as the fi rst quarter of the year, people familiar with the transactions said.

“Ebitda adjustments on new issues are signifi cant with Refi nitiv standing out,” said Uli Gerhard, a senior port-folio manager at Insight Investment Management, which manages $791bn of assets. “How much you promise and how much you deliver is the ques-tion.” Blackstone is touting cost sav-

ings by pitching a 35% earnings boost over three years, pushing up Ebitda to $2.53bn. While pro-forma adjustments have become commonplace in credit markets, Refi nitiv’s adjustment is seen by some as signifi cantly higher than average.

“Both Akzo and Refi nitiv are estab-lished businesses but one has to look in the context of where we are in the economic cycle, cashfl ow generation, management and past behaviour of the sponsor. Investors need to be very care-ful on the documentation around any deals these days,” Gerhard said.

Similarly, the terms of the debt fi -nancing backing the acquisition of

AkzoNobel Speciality Chemicals have sparked concern at at least one major rating company.

The “covenant package provides very weak protection because the covenants include a large number of unusual pro-visions like allowing asset sale proceeds to be used to make dividends and other restricted payments,” Lisa Gundy, sen-ior Covenant Offi cer at Moody’s Inves-tors Service, wrote in a note.

Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg News, competes with Thomson Reuters and the division that is being partially sold in provid-ing news, data and analytics for Wall Street traders.

Page 4: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 13, 20184

EM sneeze puts developed world immunity in doubtBloombergSingapore

As the sell-off s in Turkey and Argentina spread to other emerging markets, doubts that developed markets can retain their immunity are getting louder.JPMorgan Chase & Co says the vulnerability of mature markets to contagion emanating from developing nations hinges on Asia’s economic resilience. At ING Group the risk is that monetary tightening in many emerging economies could eventually crimp growth and have a knock-on impact for advanced economies.Emerging markets are out of favor among investors this year amid concerns ranging from tighter US monetary policy to a raft of idiosyncratic risks including Argentina’s fiscal woes and Turkey’s twin deficits. While risk of contagion has risen among developing economies, the worry that bigger countries aren’t immune to such risks are rising, says Rob Carnell, chief Asia economist at ING in Singapore.“A global emerging-market downturn could be enough to weigh on those asset prices” in developed markets, said Carnell. “Developed markets are living on borrowed time to some extent.” When they start to crumble, gold, which has been an underperformer, could be worth looking at, he said.Outside of Hong Kong, most developed markets are holding up relatively well. The S&P 500 index is hovering near record highs, having had five consecutive months of positive returns, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index of shares has tumbled more than 20% from its January high. The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index has lost

about 6% this year, set for its first annual loss in three years. Declines in emerging-market currencies have prompted some central banks to defend currencies by raising interest rates, which sets back growth, ING’s Carnell said. While the crisis in Argentina and Turkey began as home-grown problems, the stress has spilled over to markets such as Indonesia as investors’ herd mentality drive them to even sell those with better fundamentals, he said.The European Central Bank is set to tweak its forecasts for euro-area economic growth as global trade tensions damp external demand, according to off icials familiar with the latest projections. The UK and Turkey are among nations dragging on demand, though the US outlook is still positive, off icials said.For JPMorgan, the knock-on eff ect into advanced economies from a severe downturn in the emerging world would be dependent on Asia, which has been resilient so far and which is much more integrated with the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, analysts including Daniel Hui and Patrick Locke wrote in a report.Should the trade conflict between the US and China reach a point where there is a material disruption and negative impact on supply chains, Asia and developed markets will be relatively more vulnerable, they wrote. “Asia is a huge global player,” ING’s Carnell said. “If you take Asia out of the global economic picture you don’t have very strong global economic growth.”For Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the ability of developed markets to continue to decouple from the concerns in emerging markets will largely be based on the continuation of the positive trends in US growth and strong earnings, Marvin Loh, the firm’s senior global market strategist in Boston wrote in a note.

Rupee surges to 72.18 as India plans steps to end rout; Sensex reboundsBloombergMumbai

India’s rupee rallied the most in 1 1/2 years and stocks recovered after an off icial said the government may announce measures to support the currency after a planned review of the economy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend.The government is not ruling out an increase in interest rates, the off icial told reporters in New Delhi, asking not to be identified citing rules. The rupee has set one record low after another amid a selloff in emerging-market currencies and concern about India’s widening current-account deficit.“The market is seeing a temporary relief and moving on hope,” said Sajal Gupta, head of foreign-exchange and rates at Edelweiss Securities in Mumbai. “If the government’s moves are credible, we will see the rally continuing. If the moves aren’t credible, the pain will return very swiftly.”The rupee strengthened as much as 1.1% to 71.92 per dollar after hitting a new low of 72.9138 in early trading. It closed up 0.7% at 72.1825 yesterday. The rupee has slid 12% this year in Asia’s worst performance, and the losses have begun to hurt sentiment in the nation’s stock and bond markets as well.The S&P BSE Sensex gauge of stocks rebounded as much as 0.9% and benchmark 10-year bond yields dropped five basis points to 8.13%.The BSE Sensex closed higher by 304.83 points, or 0.81%, to 37,717.96 yesterday, while the Nifty 50 rose 82.40 points, or 0.73%, to close at 11,369.90.

The BSE MidCap gained 0.52%, whereas SmallCap fell 0.27%. Sixteen out of 19 sectoral indices on the BSE advanced with FMCG gaining most at 2.40% followed by metal and capital goods. Telecom, realty and bankex declined. Power Grid, ITC, Sun Pharma and Adani Ports were among the top gainers, whereas Axis Bank, Tata Motors, HPCL and ICICI Bank were among the major losers.The Sensex tumbled 2.5% in two days to Tuesday, the most since February, and the benchmark yield rose to 8.23%, the highest since November 2014.The selloff has come amid surging oil prices - India’s biggest pain point - and threatens to stoke inflation, worsen the government’s finances and impinge on companies borrowing costs. That aggravates a negative spiral for Asia’s third- biggest economy which boasts of world-beating growth of over 8%. Global funds have pulled $733mn from local bonds so far in September and $133mn from shares this week.The currency’s persistent weakness has prompted authorities to ask the central bank to intervene more aggressively to stem the slide, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The government may take steps including introducing a deposit plan for overseas Indians, another finance ministry off icial said.“Traders making hay selling the rupee and shorting equities are now being forced to cover their bets after the news of government intervention,” said Sanjiv Bhasin, executive vice president at India Infoline. Stocks were extremely over sold, he said.

Indian rupee banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Mumbai. The rupee closed up 0.7% to 72.18 yesterday.

Emerging equities extend lossesReutersLondon

MSCI’s benchmark emerging equi-ties index extended losses yes-terday, hitting its lowest since

May 2017 as trade tensions troubled Asian bourses, while Turkey’s lira fi rmed ahead of an expected rate rise today.

China has told the World Trade Organi-zation (WTO) that it wants to impose $7bn a year in sanctions on the United States in retaliation for Washington’s non-com-pliance with a ruling in a dispute over US dumping duties.

Separately, US President Donald Trump said that the United States was taking a tough stance with China.

“There are many external factors which weigh negatively on the psychology of in-vestors — trade wars for example, which is not just pitching one country versus an-other, but confl icts are now widespread, with many countries involved and aff ect-ed,” said Cristian Maggio, head of emerg-ing markets strategy at TD Securities.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney also warned that China’s fi nancial system posed one of the bigger risks to global fi -nancial stability.

Asian bourses took the brunt of the sell-ing, with the Asia ex-Japan index having fallen for 10 straight sessions, its longest losing streak since September 2000. Chi-nese mainland shares closed at their low-est level since January 2016, down 0.3%, with the blue-chip index down 0.7%, its weakest close since August 2016. China’s yuan hit its lowest level against the dollar in 2-1/2 weeks after an offi cial guidance rate was fi xed at its weakest since August

24. India’s rupee plumbed another record low before fi rming 0.4%, with infl ation seen slipping below the central bank’s me-dium-term target in August.

South Korea’s won also slipped 0.4% as unemployment hit an eight-year high in August.

But the Turkish lira fi rmed 0.4% ahead of today’s central bank meeting.

The bank signalled it would take action after infl ation surged to 17.9% in August, its highest in nearly a decade and a half.

“The central bank can’t aff ord not to hike as this would trigger another steep sell off in the currency,” Maggio said, add-ing that over the longer term, the risk was the bank would continue to fall behind the curve. Turkish stocks rose 0.9%, with the banking sector up 0.4%.

Elsewhere in emerging Europe, Russia’s rouble fell 0.2% to around 69.5 per dollar, while Moscow shares gained 0.4%.

Earlier this week the rouble touched 70.60 per dollar, its weakest since mid-March 2016, on the threat of more US sanctions against Moscow.

Trump could sign an executive order as slapping sanctions on any foreign companies or people who interfere in US elections.

The Czech crown fi rmed 0.35% against the euro to its strongest since mid-May af-ter the central bank governor signalled the bank could increase interest rates as soon as this month.

Overnight, Argentina kept its interest rate at 60% as expected, with the peso taking another hit, slipping 1.5%.

Asia junk yields rise to 7-week high as India adds painBloombergTokyo

Yields for Asia junk dollar bond rose to their highest in seven weeks as emerging market woes increas-

ingly engulf India.Borrowing costs for weaker Indian

notes climbed 47 basis points from the start of the month to 7% on Tuesday, compared with little change in August, according to ICE BofAML data. That helped push up the yield on Asian non-investment grade notes to 8.64%, the highest since July 25.

Investors expect spreads on Asian junk

bonds to rise in the next six months, ac-cording to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch investor survey conducted last week.

India’s rupee has weakened about 12% this year, the worst performer among major currencies in Asia, putting pres-sure on the Reserve Bank of India to take stronger action to stem the currency’s slide, despite little success so far.

“Investors are most worried about a trade war” and emerging-market trou-bles, analysts wrote in the BofAML sur-vey report dated Sept. 11.

Vedanta Resources Plc was the sin-gle biggest loser in terms of returns this month, according to an ICE BofAML

Asian high- yield index. The Indian company’s $500mn 7.125% 2023 bond has fallen more than 3 cents on the dollar this month.

Notes from Tata Steel and Greenko Energy Holdings have also dropped by more than 1 cent this month.

Among Asian debt, Indonesian notes continued to fare the worst. Yields on the nation’s junk bonds have climbed about 135 basis points since the end of July to 8.84% on Tuesday, according to an ICE BofAML index.

Borrowing costs for weaker Chinese issuers have increased only marginally since the end of July, as they have ben-efi ted from an easing in monetary policy

by the nation’s authorities. Their yields have risen fi ve basis points from July 31 to 9.41% on Tuesday, the data show.

Still, an increasing percentage of in-vestors think Asian high-yield bonds are cheap as yields have risen, according to the Bank of America survey.

“Chinese HY off ers better valuations in general compared to India and Indone-sia,” according to Neel Gopalakrishnan, a senior credit strategist at DBS Group Holdings.

There is value in some BB rated Asian credits, especially for investors who take a longer-term view, “but in the current market, it is more about watching down-side risks,” he said.

Asia bourses sell-off continues as trade war fears persistAFPHong Kong

The sell-off on Asian markets ex-tended into yesterday with inves-tors fearing an escalation in the

US-China trade row after Beijing said it planned to impose anti-dumping sanc-tions worth billions on Washington.

The news adds to a sense of pessimism across trading fl oors in recent weeks as the world’s top two economic powers stand on the cusp of an all-out trade war that observers fear could batter the glo-bal economy.

It also comes as dealers struggle to deal with a brewing emerging-market fi nancial crisis and overshadows hopeful noises from Canada that a revised Nafta deal is “imminently possible”.

However, energy fi rms were broadly higher as oil prices benefi ted from a sharp drop in US inventories, looming sanc-tions on Iran and Hurricane Florence’s imminent impact on the Carolinas.

China said Tuesday it would ask the World Trade Organisation next week for permission to impose more than $7bn in sanctions annually on the United States over anti-dumping practices.

The WTO will discuss the issue on September 21. The case dates back to De-cember 2013, when China took issue with the way Washington assesses whether exports have been “dumped” at unfairly low prices onto the US market.

Beijing’s call comes after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariff s on all goods coming from China, which he says is using unfair trade practices that are harming American jobs.

He has also railed against his country’s massive trade defi cit with China, which

hit a record high last month. On Wednes-day China’s Vice Premier Hu Chunhua warned that protectionism poses a “seri-ous hazard” to growth and cautioned “in-dividual countries” against isolationism, in a veiled reference to the ongoing row. Hong Kong was again among the worst performers, having fallen into a bear mar-ket Tuesday — marking a 20% fall from its record high touched in January.

The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.3% — a sixth straight loss — while Shanghai also dropped 0.3% to fi nish around levels last seen at the very begin-ning of 2016.

Tokyo was 0.3% lower and Sydney fell 0.1% while Wellington and Taipei were each 0.3% off .

Manila and Bangkok were also lower

while Seoul and Singapore were fl at.“We are concerned that trade ten-

sions are adding to the downside risks to growth,” Sneha Sanghvi, head of Asian fi nancial markets at Westpac, told Bloomberg TV.

“We are seeing heightened volatility and risk aversion in fi nancial markets — that trend is likely to continue for the next few weeks.” The losses came despite a positive lead from Wall Street, where energy fi rms were boosted by a more than two % rally in oil and technology fi rms were supported by bargain-buying.

Both main crude contracts extended gains yesterday, providing support to en-ergy fi rms, with eyes on the US east coast as Florence barrels in.

Japan’s Inpex more than 2% higher

and Woodside Petroleum in Sydney 1.6% higher. CNOOC put on more than 1% in Hong Kong.

“There is a strong possibility Hurri-cane Florence moves to a Category Five storm before it hits land and it is already a major disruptor on the US east coast gasoline market as mass evacuations stretch supplies and Florence’s heavy rains endangers major fuel pipelines,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior foreign ex-change strategist at National Australia Bank.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed down 0.3% to 22,604.61 points; Hong Kong — Hang Seng ended down 0.3% to 26,345.04 points and Shanghai — Com-posite closed down 0.3% to 2,656.11 points yesterday.

Investors look at computer screens showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai. The Composite index closed down 0.3% to 2,656.11 points yesterday.

Page 5: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS5Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Scrapped IPOs drop 93% amid steady market, SEC changesBy Jacob RundBloomberg Law

Withdrawn IPOs have dropped 93% since

2014 as strong domestic markets and

regulatory tweaks have added certainty

to the decision-making process for going

public. Just five companies that an-

nounced initial public off erings of $1mn

or more on US exchanges during the first

eight months of this year withdrew their

registration documents after submitting

them to the Securities and Exchange

Commission, Bloomberg data show. That’s

compared to 79 off erings announced and

then withdrawn during the same period

in 2014.

Significantly fewer withdrawn IPOs are

a signal that more companies are satisfied

with the market for their planned off erings

and are confident they can accommodate

regulators before taking the plunge, attor-

neys and former regulatory off icials told

Bloomberg Law. “We’ve been in a five-year

period where the IPO market has been

quite strong,” said Bill Haddad, a partner

in Venable’s corporate practice. “So you’ve

had a pretty good overall market, gener-

ally, and people just know ahead of time

what sells and what doesn’t. “They know

the sectors where they can go out and

raise some money,” he said.

The drop is fuelled in part by a 2012

law to help small businesses raise money.

It includes a provision allowing “emerg-

ing growth companies” — those with less

than $1.07bn in annual gross revenue — to

discuss the details of a potential IPO with

investors and the SEC without violating

securities law.

Companies pursuing smaller IPOs are

far more likely to start the process and

then back out, according to a Bloomberg

Law analysis. From 2014 through the end

of August, 236 IPOs valued between $1mn

and $100mn were withdrawn. Their collec-

tive value surpassed $11.78bn.

That compares with just 51 withdrawn

off erings between $100mn and $500mn

in the same time period, a $12.6bn value.

The number of called-off public off er-

ings dropped to just seven for IPOs over

$500mn, and only two of those aborted

off erings exceeded $1bn.

Digicel Group’s $1.98bn off ering, an-

nounced in 2015, topped the list of largest

withdrawn IPOs since 2014. The mobile

network developer scrapped its plans

to go public in 2016, citing “unfavour-

able market conditions” in its withdrawal

request submitted to the SEC.

Grocery chain Albertsons Cos had the

second-largest withdrawn IPO during that

time. It opted not to pursue a public off er-

ing after reaching a $3bn merger agree-

ment, which has since been called off , with

pharmacy operator Rite Aid Corp.

“It’s a very simple process,” Crowd-

Check CEO Sara Hanks said of withdraw-

ing from a planned public off ering. The

actual paperwork involved is typically

a one-page letter sent to the SEC that’s

“basically saying ‘never mind.’”

The withdrawal filings are structured

as requests to cancel the securities

registration statement before it becomes

eff ective. They typically include just a few

sentences, usually with one stating that

the company didn’t sell any securities.

Companies often withdraw from IPOs

“because they understand from their

bankers that the market just isn’t there for

them,” Haddad said.

“Sometimes they’ll even go out on a

roadshow and be marketing the off ering”

and find out that there’s not a market

there, or at least not on the terms they

want, he added.

Market volatility is another top factor

companies consider when deciding

whether to follow through with an off ering

on a US exchange, especially for those

based in a foreign country. That’s because

many are already listed on an exchange

in their home countries or regions, so

uncertainty in both markets must be taken

into account.

“Market condition is the biggest” reason

for withdrawing an IPO, said Hanks, a

former SEC off icial whose company guides

foreign and domestic startups and other

firms through the compliance and capital-

raising processes.

But the top non-market factor, she said,

is an inability to comply with SEC requests

to furnish certain financial statements

and other data. The commission will

often ask IPO filers for more information

on their business operations, financials

and subsidiaries, which can be tough for

foreign firms held to diff erent reporting

and accounting requirements.

“They’re really trying, but they just can’t

produce the financial statements,” Hanks

said of firms attempting to reconcile finan-

cial statements with US regulations. “It’s

the single biggest issue, in my experience,

that causes a withdrawal. And sometimes

it’s not always obvious until we’ve filed.”

Interest from potential investors or

larger Corps seeking an acquisition target

can also prompt companies to abandon

IPO plans. “If you get approached by an

investor willing to make a private invest-

ment, then you might be more willing

to turn to private markets instead,” said

Bonnie Roe, a partner at Cohen & Gresser

LLP who specialises in corporate law and

capital markets. However, going from

public to private markets “can be kind of

complex” and a “bit messy” in some cases,

she added.

Smaller companies considering public

off erings are often aided by their ability

to test the waters with potential investors.

It’s “certainly part of” the drop in IPO

withdrawals, Haddad said.

Some companies might find, in testing

the waters, that they weren’t as attractive

as they thought they might be, Roe said.

“You can sort of figure out the [IPO]

process earlier, when you’re less com-

mitted,” she said. Emerging growth

companies interested in an IPO can also

file draft securities registration statements

confidentially with the SEC. It’s a way for

them to figure out the regulatory steps

they need to take for an off ering without

broadcasting their intentions to the public.

Russia faces rate dilemma as ‘cosmetic’ hike won’t be enoughBloombergMoscow

Few economists expect Russia’s central bank to back hawkish words with action at a meeting

on interest rates this week.But if it decides to follow through

with its fi rst hike in almost four years, it might move in a bigger step of half a percentage point, which hasn’t been used since the end of 2017, according to analysts at lenders including Sber-bank CIB and Nordea Bank. For now, the only two economists predicting an increase on Friday see a change of 25 basis points to 7.5%, with the rest fore-casting a hold.

“No one will benefi t if it’s simply a cosmetic hike of 25 basis points,” said Tatiana Evdokimova, chief economist for Russia at Nordea Bank. “The mar-ket won’t gain any new balance.”

From Argentina to Ukraine, policy makers across emerging economies

have relied on large rate moves to calm markets in an attempt to steady their currencies. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina is herself no stranger to decisive action, jacking up the benchmark by an emergency 6.5 per-centage points to try to halt a run on the rouble in December 2014.

The predicament is nowhere near as extreme yet. Despite the gathering risks to the economy from infl ation, sanctions and declines in the rouble, the central bank has room to act since real rates in Russia remain among Eu-rope’s highest even after a round of monetary easing since 2015.

Nabiullina could also get a helping hand from Turkey, whose central bank has signalled it could raise rates at its meeting today. If it delivers on that promise and shows the nation’s cur-rency crisis is in check, pressure may ease on the Bank of Russia to act the following day.

Unlike the economists, however, the market is far less sanguine. Forward-

rate agreements show traders’ expec-tations of increases in borrowing costs over the next three months are at the highest since 2014.

“If the central bank decides to pre-vent problems related to concerns about geopolitics, the rate hike should

be more signifi cant than the market now expects,” analysts at Sberbank CIB, the investment-banking arm of Russia’s biggest lender, said in a note. An increase of a quarter-percentage point “will satisfy neither the central bank itself nor the markets.”

Regardless of the risks from geopoli-tics, the outlook for infl ation is so wor-risome that the central bank may move “reluctantly” to raise rates, according to Citigroup Inc, which is warning that price growth could signifi cantly over-shoot the 4% target in the fi rst quarter of next year, thanks in part to a weaker exchange rate.

The rouble depreciated for four straight days until Tuesday, weakening past 70 per dollar to the lowest level in more than two years. It recouped some losses on Tuesday, gaining 1.7% against the US currency in Moscow.

“Even if the fi nancial backdrop in Russia remains robust with oil prices and twin surpluses providing a useful prop to macro activity, the rationale for slighter tighter monetary policy becomes ever more convincing,” Citi-group analysts Ivan Tchakarov and Ar-tem Zaigrin said in a report.

Given the threats to infl ation, Ren-aissance Capital’s base-case scenario sees three rate hikes through the fi rst

three months of 2019 to bring the benchmark to 8% by April 2019.

But it’s the anxiety over US sanctions that’s leading to speculation about the what-ifs for the central bank. Already the rouble is among the fi ve worst performers in emerging markets this year. Investors also anticipate the Rus-sian currency will remain among the world’s most unstable.

If volatility picks up, a “pre-emptive” rate hike of as much as 150 basis points is possible to stabilize the market, ac-cording to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The situation could be “border-line enough” for the central bank to hike rates in response to pro-infl ationary pressures, said Tatiana Orlova, an econ-omist at Emerginomics in London. But the time may not yet be right.

“It makes more sense to sound hawkish – very hawkish if required – employ verbal intervention, and hold off on any big decisions until the geo-political uncertainty that is dogging the markets is resolved,” Orlova said.

Nabiullina: Tough task ahead.

Bond traders burned by payrolls seek salvation at auction block

BloombergNew York

August’s unexpectedly strong US wage growth may be a blessing in

disguise for bond bulls prepar-ing for another near-record round of Treasury auctions.

The US will sell a combined $73bn of 3-, 10-, and 30-year securities this week, the second-largest batch of the tenors since 2010. Treasuries sold off sharply on Friday after average hourly earnings in-creased by 0.4% on a monthly basis in August, topping ana-lyst expectations, and non-farm payrolls rose 201,000 from July.

While benchmark 10-year yields approached 2.95% in the biggest selloff since May, the backup could help inves-tors digest a seemingly ever-increasing slate of supply, according to Brian Edmonds, head of interest-rates trading at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. The bond market has proven remarkably resilient to the swelling issuance so far, and even more buyers are likely to emerge if rates return to multiyear highs.

“I don’t anticipate we’ll have a problem” with the auctions in the coming week, Edmonds said. “The auctions have gone pretty well, espe-cially at these yield levels. You get back at 3% in 10-year notes, they’ll go even better.”

The post-wages slump held even as US President Donald Trump threatened tariff s on an additional $267bn of Chi-nese goods Friday, on top of

the proposed $200bn that the US administration is already preparing to implement. Any haven bid was simply out-weighed by August’s stellar employment fi gures, accord-ing to Michael Franzese, head of fi xed-income trading at broker-dealer MCAP LLC.

“It puts pressure on the Fed to keep hiking,” Franzese said. “Interest rates are going high-er in the front end.”

Friday’s selloff also provided traders with an opportunity to reload curve fl attening bets. The spread between 5- and 30- year yields narrowed 3 basis points to 28 basis points, after reaching the widest level since June earlier in the week.

Investors will get a chance to judge the extent to which rising wages are impacting in-fl ation more broadly in the run up to the auctions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases producer price data just hours before Wednesday’s 10-year sale, while on Thursday the highly anticipated consumer price infl ation fi gures are pub-lished ahead of the 30-year of-fering.

“The big range has been 2.8 to 3% in 10-year yields since June, and we could defi nitely break the range to the upside if we do get higher infl ation,” Edmonds said.

History suggests that such a spike would spark demand. Last month’s record $26bn sale of 10-year notes drew an above-average bid-to-cover ratio after yielding close to 2.96% in the minutes before the auction, signalling that investor appetite near the piv-otal 3% level remains robust.

Citigroup plans to nearly double Brazil-focusedprivate-banker teamBloombergSao Paulo

Citigroup Inc plans to almost dou-ble the number of private bankers serving wealthy Brazilians over

the next two years as competition for that business intensifi es and tax-amnesty programs unlock hidden wealth.

Citi Private Bank expects to add 10 bankers, bringing the team to 25, accord-ing to Cesar Chicayban, who runs the business in Brazil. The company, which services 550 Brazilian families with at least $10mn to invest with the fi rm, has hired fi ve bankers in the past year in Sao Paulo and New York, including Vivien Dias, who worked more than 10 years at JPMorgan Asset Management.

“We want to keep delivering for the next fi ve years the same double-digit ro-bust growth we had in the past two,” Chi-cayban said in an interview.

Citigroup sold its retail division in Bra-zil to Itau Unibanco Holding SA in Octo-ber for an announced value of 710mn reais ($175mn), as part of chief executive of-fi cer Michael Corbat’s plan to cut costs and boost returns. The private-banking busi-ness, which wasn’t included in the deal, was restructured to eliminate services such as local bank accounts and credit cards.

The unit also doubled its minimum as-set level invested at the bank from a previ-ous $5mn, following new global standards at the company.

The bank let go about 50 clients in the process of restructuring, according to Chicayban. “We’re now servicing a very exclusive group of people with global needs; we are almost a private-banking boutique,” Chicayban said. The New York-based company has operations in 98 countries, participating in all major mar-kets, “and that has a cost,” he said.

New regulations have also increased control and compliance expenses for the private-banking business, he said, an-other reason Citigroup decided to narrow its focus.

The bank kept off ering onshore and off shore investment-advisory and credit services to rich Brazilian individuals, while banking and wealth planning are off ered only outside the nation, he said. Citigroup

has teams dedicated to Brazilian clients in Miami, New York, Geneva, London, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, according to Chi-cayban, with a total of 60 employees.

Prospects for the business remain strong, especially after tax-amnesty pro-grams created what Chicayban called a “fl ight to quality” movement.

“When the wealth wasn’t legitimised, many families kept their money in smaller banks, in which the main concern was confi dentiality,” he said. “Now those cli-ents can move their assets throughout the world and are seeking good advice, assist-ance and international platforms.”

Brazil passed a bill in 2016 allowing cit-izens and companies to report undeclared assets held abroad. After paying a fi ne and taxes, they could either keep those assets outside the country or bring them home. The program, which ended last year, un-covered about $54bn in foreign depos-

its, according to Brazil’s tax authority. Citigroup over the past two years has at-tracted new wealth from Brazilians com-ing from 15 other banks, Chicayban said, adding that the bank now works with 100 family offi ces, a number that tripled over the past fi ve years.

Competition from other international banks has sparked consolidation in the in-dustry. Last year, UBS Group AG scooped up the fi rm that was Brazil’s biggest in-dependent multifamily offi ce at the time, Consenso Investimentos. In January, Ju-lius Baer Group Ltd said it acquired 95% of Sao Paulo-based Reliance Group, also one of the biggest independent family of-fi ces in the nation.

Citigroup will keep growing by acquir-ing teams of bankers from competitors while deepening relationships with exist-ing clients, he said, adding that the bank’s willingness to extend credit will also help.

“After 2009, many families bought real estate in the US and Europe and now want to use those properties to raise cash,” he said, adding that art, other investments and planes can all be used as collateral. Citigroup also has the ability to off er credit with no collateral at all, depending on the client. It’s in the middle of fi nanc-ing a client’s acquisition of a $30mn prop-erty, and will handle about 40 such loans this year, he said.

The bank, which has roughly $460bn in wealth under management worldwide, sold its fund-management business to Legg Mason Inc in 2005.

“So we don’t have any confl ict of inter-est, no obligation to steer investments to our own funds,” Chicayban said. “We can suggest to clients the best products from any asset-management fi rm,” he said, adding that the the bank charges “only one, very transparent fee.”

Chicayban: Prospects for the business remain strong.

Page 6: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

Zad Holding CoWidam Food CoVodafone Qatar

United Development CoSalam International Investme

Qatar & Oman Investment CoQatar Navigation

Qatar National Cement CoQatar National Bank

Qatar Islamic InsuranceQatar Industrial Manufactur

Qatar International IslamicQatari Investors Group

Qatar Islamic BankQatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)Qatar General Insurance & ReQatar German Co For Medical

Qatar Fuel QscQatar First Bank

Qatar Electricity & Water CoQatar Exchange Index Etf

Qatar Cinema & Film DistribAl Rayan Qatar Etf

Qatar Insurance CoOoredoo Qpsc

National LeasingMazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev

Mesaieed Petrochemical HoldiAl Meera Consumer Goods Co

Medicare GroupMannai Corporation Qsc

Masraf Al RayanAl Khalij Commercial Bank

Industries QatarIslamic Holding Group

Investment Holding GroupGulf Warehousing Company

Gulf International ServicesEzdan Holding Group

Doha Insurance CoDoha Bank Qpsc

Dlala HoldingCommercial Bank Pqsc

Barwa Real Estate CoAl Khaleej Takaful Group

Aamal Co

92.50

73.10

8.96

14.60

5.11

6.07

67.00

56.75

180.01

53.50

42.00

58.15

31.90

138.80

17.62

49.00

5.10

147.00

5.27

189.50

99.15

16.51

23.90

37.00

70.50

9.24

7.10

16.05

153.00

67.70

57.00

38.50

11.05

127.70

27.00

5.75

40.20

17.52

10.15

12.74

25.30

12.27

40.00

36.70

9.81

9.73

0.00

-0.12

0.45

0.55

0.20

0.33

2.62

1.14

0.49

0.94

1.20

2.90

3.07

0.00

1.50

0.00

0.79

1.77

0.38

-0.79

0.76

0.00

1.49

0.03

0.01

-0.11

0.71

1.58

-0.33

0.30

6.36

1.32

0.45

0.63

-1.28

-0.86

-0.25

-0.17

0.10

-6.53

-0.78

-1.45

0.05

0.55

-1.90

0.41

2,102

13,381

591,628

992,817

64,326

6,026

73,098

49,135

402,300

5,115

3,669

218,466

126,625

101,292

619,123

350

61,920

176,268

202,861

13,318

2,888

-

7,357

202,247

49,625

39,733

246,412

485,902

23,107

17,390

70,059

480,756

59,440

145,515

10,827

148,890

2,865

64,165

274,639

3,331

265,838

336,431

332,019

477,129

85,142

39,519

QATAR

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

United Wire Factories CompanEtihad Etisalat Co

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate DevAlawwal Bank

Rabigh Refining And PetrocheBanque Saudi Fransi

Saudi Enaya Cooperative InsuMediterranean & Gulf Insuran

Saudi British BankRed Sea International Co

Takween Advanced IndustriesSabb Takaful

Saudi Arabian Fertilizer CoNational GypsumSaudi Ceramic Co

National Gas & IndustrializaSaudi Pharmaceutical Industr

ThimarNational Industrialization C

Batic Investments And LogistSaudi Electricity Co

Saudi Arabia Refineries CoArriyadh Development Company

Al-Baha Development & InvestSaudi Research And MarketingAldrees Petroleum And Transp

Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe CoJarir Marketing Co

Arab National BankYanbu National Petrochemical

Arabian CementMiddle East Specialized Cabl

Al Khaleej Training And EducAl Sagr Co-Operative Insuran

Trade Union Cooperative InsuArabia Insurance Cooperative

Saudi Chemical CompanyFawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C

Bupa Arabia For CooperativeWafa Insurance

Jabal Omar Development CoSaudi Basic Industries Corp

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical CoEtihad Atheeb Telecommunicat

Co For Cooperative InsuranceNational Petrochemical Co

Gulf Union Cooperative InsurGulf General Cooperative Ins

Basic Chemical IndustriesSaudi Steel Pipe Co

Buruj Cooperative InsuranceMouwasat Medical Services Co

Southern Province Cement CoMaadaniyah

Yamama Cement CoJazan Energy And Development

Zamil Industrial InvestmentAlujain Corporation (Alco)

Tabuk Agricultural DevelopmeUnited Co-Operative Assuranc

Qassim Cement/TheSaudi Advanced Industries

Kingdom Holding CoSaudi Arabian Amiantit Co

Al Jouf Agriculture DevelopmSaudi Industrial Development

Riyad BankThe National Agriculture Dev

Halwani Bros CoArabian Pipes Co

Eastern Province Cement CoAl Gassim Investment Holding

Filing & Packing Materials MSaudi Cable Co

Tihama Advertising & PublicSaudi Investment Bank/The

Astra Industrial GroupSaudi Public Transport Co

Taiba Holding CoSaudi Industrial Export Co

Saudi Real Estate CoSaudia Dairy & Foodstuff Co

National Shipping Co Of/TheMethanol Chemicals Co

Chubb Arabia Cooperative InsMobile Telecommunications Co

Saudi Arabian Coop Ins CoAxa Cooperative Insurance

Alsorayai GroupBank Albilad

Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker CoWataniya Insurance Co

Abdullah Al Othaim MarketsHail Cement

Saudi Re For Cooperative ReiSolidarity Saudi Takaful Co

Amana Cooperative InsuranceAlabdullatif Industrial Inv

Saudi Printing & Packaging CSaudi Paper Manufacturing Co

Alinma BankAlmarai Co

Falcom Saudi Equity EtfUnited International Transpo

Hsbc Amanah Saudi 20 EtfSaudi International Petroche

Falcom Petrochemical EtfWalaa Cooperative Insurance

15.72

17.68

9.06

14.12

22.68

31.70

21.04

16.00

31.30

15.70

10.28

18.90

76.90

12.64

18.00

26.45

30.75

26.70

18.14

37.25

16.74

40.00

16.24

15.20

101.00

27.75

46.00

181.00

32.00

71.00

19.46

7.41

12.60

12.64

21.80

20.32

32.55

22.56

96.50

11.70

36.45

119.00

16.50

5.35

53.50

26.50

13.30

13.50

21.90

21.40

23.74

81.30

33.65

17.94

13.54

15.62

20.20

30.75

10.08

11.54

33.05

12.46

8.49

5.77

23.00

8.24

15.52

31.00

47.15

10.26

21.42

10.60

36.55

23.36

39.80

17.72

16.86

13.80

29.80

216.00

13.64

88.30

30.10

10.96

19.36

5.88

12.22

21.78

12.54

23.80

8.41

24.00

64.40

7.74

6.95

16.18

16.50

11.18

16.30

12.76

19.74

51.00

30.10

26.30

31.00

19.78

34.10

24.00

-1.50

0.00

-0.44

-1.26

-1.65

-2.01

0.19

5.26

-0.95

-1.26

1.18

0.53

-1.28

-1.25

1.58

-0.38

0.49

-0.37

-2.89

0.68

-1.18

-0.25

-1.58

-2.56

-0.79

-0.72

0.00

-1.84

0.00

-0.70

-2.41

-3.14

-2.33

-2.92

-2.07

0.89

0.15

-1.48

0.52

-2.50

1.25

-0.67

-1.08

0.00

-2.73

0.38

-6.21

-2.60

-1.17

2.88

-3.02

-1.09

-0.44

-0.33

-1.88

-1.51

0.00

0.82

-0.59

-2.20

-0.60

-0.16

0.24

-0.69

0.00

-0.96

0.00

-2.67

-0.63

1.18

0.19

-0.93

-0.68

-4.34

-2.81

0.11

-2.99

-1.29

-0.33

-0.18

-1.02

0.34

-1.79

2.05

-1.53

0.34

-2.71

-2.59

-2.03

-1.00

-1.75

-0.74

-0.77

-0.26

-1.42

-3.11

-0.60

-1.76

-2.04

0.00

-1.00

-2.30

-1.31

-6.41

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.41

48,069

658,551

22,081,265

24,590

555,706

55,403

498,666

498,795

44,982

20,848

415,592

316,071

457,584

79,313

211,264

86,750

95,008

84,646

1,684,807

16,871

1,107,093

279,568

223,296

27,039

86,192

912,275

14,185

20,516

120,308

217,487

219,049

183,951

153,079

793,102

236,694

159,306

70,123

493,657

75,170

859,622

538,910

2,904,909

5,567,948

-

422,632

29,838

473,234

73,550

46,006

1,420,053

288,670

14,266

81,398

22,806

151,968

114,158

73,442

339,103

145,871

318,058

14,134

268,645

31,349

373,324

41,946

102,078

293,521

36,778

9,713

1,110,551

9,238

31,843

156,183

270,401

104,422

107,154

83,613

158,639

36,896

15,576

245,501

15,203

844,028

3,378,058

27,529

1,195,794

171,627

160,749

285,931

118,886

418,025

28,915

70,548

104,146

436,378

143,117

579,247

51,495

160,687

-

20,477,752

260,450

183,426

1,579,433

-

177,342

-

262,818

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Bank Al-JaziraAl Rajhi Bank

Samba Financial GroupUnited Electronics Co

Allied Cooperative InsuranceMalath Insurance

Alinma Tokio MarineArabian Shield Cooperative

SavolaWafrah For Industry And Deve

Fitaihi Holding GroupTourism Enterprise Co/ Shams

Sahara Petrochemical CoHerfy Food Services Co

Saudi Ind Investment GroupSalama Cooperative Insurance

Emaar Economic CityAlahli Takaful Co

Anaam International HoldingSaudi Telecom Co

Al Alamiya Cooperative InsurSaudi Industrial Services Co

Al-Ahsa Development Co.National Co For Glass In/The

Dur Hospitality CoTabuk Cement Co

SascoSaudi Cement

Aseer Trading Tourism & ManuNama Chemicals Co

Saudi Arabian Mining CoYanbu Cement Co

13.58

84.00

28.45

55.00

17.70

12.28

18.68

18.34

30.00

14.04

11.40

30.50

16.70

43.30

25.55

16.86

9.22

24.60

10.60

83.00

36.30

13.14

10.00

18.50

19.00

11.54

15.14

40.90

9.79

23.98

49.95

21.10

-1.45

-0.24

-1.22

-1.26

0.11

-4.06

-1.37

-0.86

-1.96

0.00

-1.55

-1.29

-1.53

0.70

-0.58

-2.99

-0.54

-1.60

-2.03

0.36

1.82

-0.76

-0.40

0.00

-2.06

-3.03

-0.26

-1.09

-1.61

-0.08

-0.70

-1.03

748,923

1,650,510

969,603

100,477

233,622

524,298

100,580

183,726

456,550

-

88,296

82,806

1,147,002

18,640

269,688

421,979

2,102,801

56,448

76,089

213,847

353,217

162,047

131,281

3,077

83,764

335,938

167,197

11,841

99,248

299,233

469,059

89,293

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Sultan Center Food ProductsKuwait Foundry Co Sak

Kuwait Financial Centre SakAjial Real Estate Entmt

Kuwait Finance & InvestmentNational Industries Co Ksc

Kuwait Real Estate Holding CSecurities House/The

Boubyan Petrochemicals CoAl Ahli Bank Of Kuwait

Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)National Bank Of Kuwait

Commercial Bank Of KuwaitKuwait International Bank

Gulf BankAl-Massaleh Real Estate Co

Al Arabiya Real Estate CoKuwait Remal Real Estate Co

A’ayan Real Estate Co SakInvestors Holding Group Co.K

Al-Mazaya Holding CoAl-Madar Finance & Invt CoGulf Petroleum Investment

Mabanee Co SakcInovest Co Bsc

Al-Deera Holding CoMena Real Estate Co

Amar Finance & Leasing CoUnited Projects For Aviation

National Consumer Holding CoAmwal International InvestmeEquipment Holding Co K.S.C.C

Arkan Al Kuwait Real EstateGfh Financial Group Bsc

Energy House Holding Co KscpKuwait Co For Process PlantAl Maidan Dental Clinic Co KNational Shooting CompanyAl-Ahleia Insurance Co Sakp

Wethaq Takaful Insurance CoSalbookh Trading Co Kscp

Aqar Real Estate InvestmentsHayat Communications

Soor Fuel Marketing Co KscTamkeen Holding Co

Burgan Co For Well DrillingKuwait Resorts Co KsccOula Fuel Marketing Co

Palms Agro Production CoMubarrad Holding Co Ksc

Shuaiba Industrial CoAan Digital Services Co

First Takaful Insurance CoKuwaiti Syrian Holding Co

National Cleaning CompanyUnited Real Estate Company

AgilityKuwait & Middle East Fin Inv

Fujairah Cement IndustriesLivestock Transport & Tradng

International Resorts CoNational Industries Grp Hold

Warba Insurance CoFirst Dubai Real Estate Deve

Al Arabi Group Holding CoMobile Telecommunications Co

Eff ect Real Estate CoTamdeen Real Estate Co KscAl Mudon Intl Real Estate Co

Kuwait Cement Co KscSharjah Cement & Indus Devel

Kuwait Portland Cement CoEducational Holding Group

Asiya Capital Investments CoKuwait Investment Co

Burgan BankKuwait Projects Co Holdings

Al Madina For Finance And InKuwait Insurance Co

Al Masaken Intl Real EstateIntl Financial Advisors

First Investment Co KsccAl Mal Investment Company

Bayan Investment Co KsccEgypt Kuwait Holding Co Sae

Coast Investment DevelopmentPrivatization Holding Compan

Injazzat Real State CompanyKuwait Cable Vision Sak

Sanam Real Estate Co KsccIthmaar Holding Bsc

Aviation Lease And Finance CArzan Financial Group For Fi

Ajwan Gulf Real Estate CoKuwait Business Town Real Es

Future Kid Entertainment AndSpecialities Group Holding C

Abyaar Real Eastate DevelopmKgl Logistics Company Kscc

Combined Group ContractingJiyad Holding Co Ksc

Boubyan Intl Industries HoldGulf Investment House Ksc

Boubyan Bank K.S.CAhli United Bank B.S.C

Osos Holding Group CoAl-Eid Food Ksc

Qurain Petrochemical IndustrEkttitab Holding Co Sak

Real Estate Trade Centers CoAcico Industries Co Kscc

Kipco Asset Management CoNational Petroleum Services

Alimtiaz Investment GroupRas Al Khaimah White Cement

Kuwait Reinsurance Co KscKuwait & Gulf Link Transport

Humansoft Holding Co KscAutomated Systems Co Kscc

Metal & Recycling CoGulf Franchising Holding Co

Al-Enma’a Real Estate CoNational Mobile Telecommuni

Unicap Investment And FinancAl Salam Group Holding Co

Al Aman Investment CompanyMashaer Holding Co Ksc

Manazel HoldingTijara And Real Estate Inves

Jazeera Airways Co KscCommercial Real Estate Co

National International CoTaameer Real Estate Invest C

Gulf Cement CoHeavy Engineering And Ship B

National Real Estate CoAl Safat Energy Holding Comp

Kuwait National Cinema CoDanah Alsafat Foodstuff Co

56.50

195.00

98.00

144.00

48.90

176.00

30.90

49.30

1,080.00

292.00

298.00

829.00

500.00

242.00

240.00

38.50

31.30

33.20

60.00

13.80

74.90

107.00

25.90

663.00

87.00

17.50

25.60

39.00

680.00

44.00

63.70

29.10

79.00

102.00

28.30

238.00

1,200.00

17.50

430.00

28.50

47.10

65.00

69.00

119.00

11.00

104.00

55.60

119.00

0.00

58.70

225.00

19.50

44.00

34.00

56.90

65.00

874.00

33.40

63.00

220.00

22.50

165.00

90.00

40.00

66.00

476.00

20.00

380.00

28.90

371.00

75.00

1,050.00

312.00

35.00

121.00

253.00

223.00

25.60

305.00

52.00

24.20

44.30

17.70

50.00

346.00

30.30

52.00

86.00

12.10

49.00

32.10

333.00

27.30

22.40

51.80

103.00

75.00

18.00

43.00

390.00

91.60

29.00

18.00

558.00

201.00

90.60

70.00

331.00

25.50

23.50

210.00

62.00

805.00

125.00

86.90

0.00

95.00

3,340.00

120.00

68.00

51.00

31.30

779.00

60.00

32.80

47.20

46.10

33.60

56.90

749.00

77.20

67.00

28.00

74.00

531.00

107.00

28.30

950.00

43.40

-2.59

1.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.53

0.00

-1.79

-0.64

-0.34

-2.30

0.48

0.00

-0.41

-5.14

0.00

-0.63

-3.49

2.74

0.00

-0.27

1.90

1.17

-0.30

-1.02

-2.78

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.05

0.00

-0.97

8.85

-4.03

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.17

0.00

-1.65

0.00

-7.14

-1.42

0.00

0.00

1.21

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.71

0.00

0.23

-0.30

-4.55

0.00

0.00

-1.20

3.45

-2.44

-0.75

-0.42

0.00

0.00

-0.34

-0.27

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.28

-0.82

0.80

-0.89

0.00

0.00

4.00

-1.22

6.24

1.14

-1.96

0.00

-0.33

-3.35

0.00

0.83

-7.72

0.00

0.60

-0.73

-0.88

2.57

-0.96

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.51

-6.45

0.00

1.09

-0.99

-1.63

0.00

-0.30

2.00

1.29

-4.55

-3.13

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.15

-0.33

-5.51

0.00

27.50

-0.32

0.52

0.00

0.00

1.51

0.22

1.51

0.00

0.54

2.93

8.06

0.72

0.00

0.57

-1.83

2.91

-9.52

-0.69

85,500

3,001

8,158

44,900

11,598

5,525

15,134

551,231

689,889

372,497

685,110

3,556,269

6,475

2,101,126

12,233,663

823,312

232,945

491,600

690,300

1,031,000

474,114

1,847,364

372,610

61,105

49,500

75,500

769,983

500

6,338

555

17,100

50,028

96,500

591,700

150

514,410

70,000

1

445,371

500

119,639

2,520

1,000

102,016

150,000

7,500

1,865,064

19,572

-

234

500

144,000

9,500

1,490,700

5,500

1,169,203

1,347,443

875,008

27,984

16,655

34,100

2,900,998

95,408

80,000

250

6,100,114

17,104

41,310

30,000

3,494

5,000

3,800

40,000

152,473

90,000

1,659,110

543,434

219,750

9,600

6,618

255,807

3,162,062

101,500

14,465

20,000

256,250

80,000

2,065

2,203

5

4,980,329

512,275

134,685

375,010

204,000

500

250,100

3,192,708

772,642

15,853

1,521,967

100,000

312,300

1,626,631

2,635,510

53,399

5,000

79,178

19,052

100

19,600

2,000

1,060

1,904,717

116,066

-

355,926

89,150

1,300

25

8,547

167,503

2,231

522,341

121,000

35,714

291,206

130,100

5,020

157,736

444,128

58,500

373,056

34,000

1,186,241

1,338,091

167,800

1,093

311,012

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Voltamp Energy SaogVision Insurance Saoc

United Power/Energy Co- PrefUnited Power Co Saog

United Finance CoUbar Hotels & Resorts

Takaful OmanTaageer FinanceSweets Of OmanSohar Power Co

Sohar PoultrySmn Power Holding Saog

Shell Oman Marketing - PrefShell Oman Marketing

Sharqiyah Desalination Co SaSembcorp Salalah Power & Wat

Salalah Port ServicesSalalah Mills Co

Salalah Beach Resort SaogSahara Hospitality

Renaissance Services SaogRaysut Cement Co

Phoenix Power Co SaocPackaging Co Ltd

OoredooOminvest

Oman United Insurance CoOman Telecommunications Co

Oman Refreshment CoOman Qatar Insurance Co

Oman PackagingOman Oil Marketing Company

Oman National Engineering AnOman Investment & Finance

Oman Intl MarketingOman Flour Mills

Oman Fisheries CoOman Europe Foods Industries

Oman Education & Training InOman Chromite

Oman ChlorineOman Ceramic Company

Oman Cement CoOman Cables Industry

Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%Natl Aluminium Products

National SecuritiesNational Real Estate Develop

National PharmaceuticalNational Mineral Water

National Life & General InsuNational Gas Co

National Finance CoNational Detergent Co Saog

National Biscuit IndustriesNational Bank Of Oman Saog

Muscat Thread Mills CoMuscat Insurance Co Saog

Muscat Gases Company SaogMuscat Finance

Muscat City Desalination CoMajan Glass Company

Majan CollegeHsbc Bank Oman

Hotels Management Co InternaGulf Stone

Gulf Mushroom CompanyGulf Investments Services

Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-SharGulf International Chemicals

Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co LtdGlobal Fin Investment

Galfar Engineering&ContractGalfar Engineering -Prefer

Financial Services Co.Financial Corp/The

Dhofar TourismDhofar Poultry

Dhofar Intl DevelopmentDhofar Insurance

Dhofar Fisheries & Food InduDhofar Cattlefeed

Dhofar Beverages CoConstruction Materials Ind

Computer Stationery IndsBankmuscat Saog

Bank SoharBank Nizwa

Bank Dhofar SaogAloula Co

Al-Omaniya Financial ServiceAl-Hassan Engineering Co

Al-Fajar Al-Alamia CoAl-Anwar Ceramic Tiles Co

Al Suwadi PowerAl Sharqiya Invest Holding

Al Maha Petroleum Products MAl Maha Ceramics Co Saoc

0.30

0.15

1.00

3.44

0.09

0.13

0.13

0.09

0.55

0.11

0.21

0.60

1.05

1.49

2.60

0.22

0.60

0.77

1.38

2.38

0.41

0.46

0.12

2.21

0.54

0.34

0.31

0.88

1.75

0.11

0.28

1.10

0.15

0.10

0.52

0.74

0.09

1.00

0.21

3.64

0.32

0.42

0.37

0.97

0.13

0.36

0.04

5.00

0.12

0.10

0.34

0.33

0.13

0.70

3.75

0.19

0.08

0.80

0.28

0.09

0.13

0.18

0.45

0.12

1.25

0.12

0.31

0.09

0.11

0.19

9.50

0.09

0.10

0.39

0.18

0.10

0.49

0.18

0.28

0.14

1.28

0.17

0.26

0.03

0.26

0.40

0.13

0.09

0.16

0.53

0.28

0.03

0.75

0.09

0.12

0.10

0.79

0.21

3.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.53

0.00

-0.77

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

7.94

0.87

0.00

-0.37

0.00

0.00

5.74

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.16

0.00

0.00

1.19

0.00

4.59

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.54

0.00

0.78

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.81

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.78

0.00

0.00

8.17

0.00

0.75

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.92

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.50

-0.78

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.22

0.88

5.32

1.54

1.46

30,270

-

-

-

95,454

-

11,655

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,152,760

-

-

-

-

-

142,318

100,622

-

171,400

-

-

436,985

-

-

-

-

-

187,359

-

-

51,835

-

335,000

-

-

-

17,000

-

150,000

-

-

-

-

-

-

212,695

-

-

-

615,997

-

-

34,331

10,000

39,369

-

-

-

-

-

-

3,661,791

-

-

-

2,132

1,612,913

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

33,330

-

-

-

2,379,293

316,362

591,687

1,000

-

-

-

-

462,874

488,112

1,843,915

33,525

45,072

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Al Madina Takaful Co SaocAl Madina Investment Co

Al Kamil Power CoAl Jazerah Services -Pfd

Al Jazeera Steel Products CoAl Jazeera Services

Al Izz Islamic BankAl Buraimi Hotel

Al Batinah PowerAl Batinah Hotels

Al Batinah Dev & InvAl Anwar Holdings Saog

Al Ahlia Insurance Co SaocAhli Bank

Acwa Power Barka SaogAbrasives Manufacturing Co S

A’saff a Foods Saog0Man Oil Marketing Co-Pref

#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

0.10

0.04

0.38

0.55

0.27

0.11

0.09

0.88

0.11

1.13

0.08

0.12

0.36

0.16

0.78

0.05

0.61

0.25

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.05

-4.55

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.79

-1.16

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.51

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1,395,159

288,602

-

-

-

290,742

95,020

-

464,424

-

-

1,050,940

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Waha Capital PjscUnited Insurance Company

United Arab Bank PjscUnion National Bank/Abu Dhab

Union Insurance CoUnion Cement Co

Umm Al Qaiwain General InvesSudan Telecommunications Gro

Sharjah Islamic BankSharjah Insurance Company

Sharjah GroupSharjah Cement & Indus DevelRas Al-Khaimah National Insu

Ras Al Khaimah White CementRas Al Khaimah Ceramics

Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co PscRas Al Khaima Poultry

Rak PropertiesOoredoo Qpsc

Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%National Takaful Company

National Marine Dredging CoNational Investor Co/The

National Corp Tourism & HoteNational Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw

National Bank Of Ras Al-KhaiNational Bank Of Fujairah

Methaq Takaful InsuranceManazel Real Estate Pjsc

Invest BankIntl Holdings Co Pjsc

Insurance HouseGulf Pharmaceutical Ind Psc

Gulf Medical ProjectsGulf Cement Co

Fujairah Cement IndustriesFujairah Building Industries

Foodco Holding PjscFirst Abu Dhabi Bank Pjsc

Finance HouseEshraq Properties Co Pjsc

Emirates Telecom Group CoEmirates Insurance Co. (Psc)

Emirates Driving CompanyDana Gas

Commercial Bank InternationaBank Of Sharjah

Axa Green Crescent InsuranceArkan Building Materials Co

Alkhaleej InvestmentAldar Properties Pjsc

Al Wathba National InsuranceAl Qudra Holding Pjsc

Al Khazna Insurance CoAl Fujairah National Insuran

Al Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.Al Buhaira National Insuranc

Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.Agthia Group Pjsc

Abu Dhabi Ship Building CoAbu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi

Abu Dhabi National Takaful CAbu Dhabi National Oil Co Fo

Abu Dhabi National InsuranceAbu Dhabi National Hotels

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co

1.87

2.00

1.20

5.06

2.03

0.00

1.00

0.45

1.19

2.84

1.30

1.01

3.20

0.95

2.20

0.71

1.89

0.61

72.90

0.51

0.51

3.06

0.58

1.95

2.50

4.30

2.96

0.80

0.46

2.10

1.16

0.85

2.01

1.98

0.89

1.20

1.56

3.70

14.46

1.68

0.57

15.94

6.50

6.80

1.19

0.70

1.07

0.50

0.55

2.10

1.87

12.76

1.05

0.25

300.00

3.85

2.21

38.00

4.73

1.18

0.48

4.40

2.44

3.75

2.70

1.13

1.63

0.00

0.00

1.40

0.00

0.00

0.00

-5.83

-0.83

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.22

-4.60

0.00

0.17

0.00

0.00

0.00

-5.85

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.15

0.00

2.56

-2.13

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.90

0.00

-1.21

-0.99

0.00

0.00

2.59

0.00

-0.93

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.09

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.21

0.00

5.49

0.00

-0.41

0.00

0.00

0.00

268,972

-

100,000

25,718,806

-

-

-

352,231

66,497

-

-

-

-

-

499,395

115,000

-

429,861

-

-

-

89

-

-

-

101,339

-

489,142

1,352,561

-

249,425

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

921,260

-

3,118,015

1,969,683

-

-

68,443,219

-

245,000

-

-

-

10,766,253

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

17,740

-

523,277

-

4,332

-

-

1,092,235

UAE

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zain Bahrain BsccUnited Paper Industries Bsc

United Gulf Holding BscTrafco Group Bsc

Takaful International CoSeef Properties

National Bank Of Bahrain BscNass Corp Bsc

Khaleeji Commercial BankIthmaar Holding Bsc

Investcorp Bank -$UsInovest Co Bsc

Gulf Hotel Group B.S.CGfh Financial Group Bsc

Esterad Investment Co B.S.C.Eskan Bank Realty Income Tr

Delmon Poultry CoBmmi Bsc

Bbk BscBahrain Telecom Co

Bahrain National HoldingBahrain Kuwait Insurance

Bahrain Islamic BankBahrain Flour Mills Co

Bahrain Duty Free ComplexBahrain Commercial Facilitie

Bahrain Cinema CoArab Banking Corp Bsc-$Us

Aluminium Bahrain BscAlbaraka Banking Group

Al-Salam BankAhli United Bank B.S.C

#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

#N/A

0.00

0.00

1.12

0.32

0.00

0.23

0.61

0.10

0.08

0.11

9.40

0.29

0.00

0.39

0.00

0.10

0.00

0.70

0.44

0.25

0.38

0.00

0.13

0.00

0.71

0.76

`

0.40

0.63

0.27

0.10

0.67

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.68

0.00

0.00

-4.55

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.54

0.00

0.00

0.00

8.33

0.00

-0.79

-1.82

0.00

-0.75

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-

-

1,500

100,250

-

20,000

15,988

26,236

20,000

100,000

2,000

50,000

-

2,868,099

-

100,000

-

10,000

88,500

173,000

20,000

-

25,000

-

80,000

23,000

59,328

72,000

301,000

70,000

25,000

1,555,000

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

BAHRAIN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Independent Petroleum GroupKuwait Real Estate Co Ksc

Salhia Real Estate Co KscGulf Cable & Electrical Ind

Kuwait Finance HouseGulf North Africa Holding Co

Hilal Cement CoOsoul Investment Kscc

Gulf Insurance Group KscUmm Al Qaiwain General Inves

Aayan Leasing & InvestmentAlrai Media Group Co KscNational Investments CoCommercial Facilities CoYiaco Medical Co. K.S.C.C

Munshaat Real Estate ProjectNoor Financial Investment Co

Al Tamdeen Investment CoCredit Rating & Collection

Ifa Hotels & Resorts Co. K.SSokouk Holding Co Sak

Warba Bank KscpViva Kuwait Telecom Co

Mezzan Holding Co Kscc#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

420.00

47.60

329.00

390.00

0.00

49.90

112.00

55.00

644.00

64.00

35.20

67.00

86.30

177.00

136.00

109.00

52.20

300.00

19.50

90.00

46.50

238.00

717.00

700.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.76

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.57

0.00

0.00

-2.76

-2.90

-1.71

0.57

5.43

-0.91

-1.32

0.00

0.00

-5.26

0.65

0.00

0.14

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

11,538

991,835

40,000

167,648

-

30,100

40

21,769

10

45,109

17,014,336

174

491,977

17,100

50

151,000

789,500

144,044

42,500

21,001

1,861,085

421,882

30,139

235,859

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

BUSINESS6 Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Page 7: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

CURRENCIESDOLLAR QATAR RIYAL SAUDI RIYAL UAE DIRHAMS BAHRAINI

DINARKUWAITI

DINAR

Nervous stock markets enjoy modest recoveryAFPLondon

Stock markets enjoyed a breather from festering trade war fears yes-terday, giving investors a welcome

chance to hunt for bargains after recent weakness, traders said.

Gains were capped, however, by ex-pectations that the US-China trade row will escalate again after Beijing said it planned to impose anti-dumping sanc-tions worth billions of dollars on Wash-ington.

“Stocks have ticked up although trad-ers remain nervous about the state of global trading relations,” said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

“China have been making life tricky for the US, and now the ball is in Presi-dent Trump’s court. Dealers know full well what sort of reaction we could see from Mr Trump, and some are in wait and see mode,” he added.

Analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda said the lull is likely to be just temporary.

“With China involving the WTO in the dispute and the US preparing more

tariff s — and threatening an eventual tariff on all imports — it doesn’t appear this threat is going away any time soon and is something we should just get used to,” Erlam said.

European markets fi nished higher. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to close

at 7,313.36 points; Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was up 0.5% at 12,032.30, while Paris’ CAC 40 gained 0.9% at 5,332.13.

The EURO STOXX 50 surged 0.5% at 3,328.16.

Wall Street was mixed in late morning trading, with the Nasdaq being pulled lower by tech stocks, while the Dow rose 0.6 %.

Earlier in Asia, an ongoing stock mar-ket sell-off showed no sign of letting up, partly fuelled by trade fears, and partly by a brewing emerging markets crisis.

The new turn in the US-China spat meanwhile adds to a sense of pessimism across trading fl oors in recent weeks as the world’s top two economic powers stand on the cusp of an all-out trade war that observers fear could batter the glo-bal economy.

China on Tuesday said it would ask the World Trade Organization next week for permission to impose more than $7bn in

sanctions annually on the United States over anti-dumping practices.

The WTO will discuss the issue on September 21.

Oil prices, especially the US contract for WTI, rose as category 4 Hurricane Florence moved towards the eastern US, threatening massive destruction.

“Oil prices are well supported as dealers try to get a handle on Hurricane Florence potential impact” on crude supplies, noted Oanda analyst Dean Popplewell.

In foreign exchange markets, the Brit-ish pound dropped after reports that Brexit supporters in the Conservative Party were planning to remove Prime Minister Theresa May.

The weakness in the currency in turn helped London stocks in their recov-ery from morning lows, as big exporters stand to gain from a softer pound.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker meanwhile undermined a key part of Britain’s plan to quit the bloc, warning that London cannot ex-pect to remain in parts of the single mar-ket.

The pound later recovered to stand higher against the dollar.

A broker looks at financial information on computer screens on the IG Index trading floor in London (file). The FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to close at 7,313.36 points yesterday.

Apple IncMicrosoft Corp

Exxon Mobil CorpJohnson & JohnsonGeneral Electric Co

Jpmorgan Chase & CoProcter & Gamble Co/The

Walmart IncVerizon Communications Inc

Pfizer IncVisa Inc-Class A Shares

Chevron CorpCoca-Cola Co/The

Intel CorpMerck & Co. Inc.

Cisco Systems IncHome Depot Inc

Intl Business Machines CorpWalt Disney Co/The

Unitedhealth Group Inc3M Co

Mcdonald’s CorpNike Inc -Cl B

United Technologies CorpBoeing Co/The

Goldman Sachs Group IncAmerican Express Co

Caterpillar IncTravelers Cos Inc/The

221.27

111.20

83.18

139.30

12.54

113.32

82.91

96.18

55.13

42.39

146.32

116.28

46.23

44.64

69.77

46.70

212.00

146.99

109.66

262.77

214.36

165.31

82.36

134.13

354.27

228.44

108.00

0.00

144.10

127.08

-1.15

-0.04

0.39

0.57

1.66

-0.97

1.10

-0.48

0.76

0.19

0.57

1.10

0.45

-0.65

1.00

-0.70

-0.87

0.34

0.05

0.66

1.22

0.42

-0.33

0.39

2.61

-0.77

-0.29

0.00

1.46

-0.60

23,131,637

9,656,281

5,500,298

3,206,527

18,104,586

5,294,995

2,118,082

2,644,147

6,845,351

8,211,112

3,134,006

2,561,273

6,712,769

16,683,944

2,556,295

7,532,563

2,761,076

1,969,139

2,623,867

1,078,820

1,027,723

1,179,689

2,643,322

1,737,693

2,461,388

1,917,191

1,946,521

-

3,070,668

650,577

DJIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Wpp PlcWorldpay Group Plc

Wolseley PlcWm Morrison Supermarkets

Whitbread PlcVodafone Group Plc

United Utilities Group PlcUnilever Plc

Tui Ag-DiTravis Perkins Plc

Tesco PlcTaylor Wimpey Plc

Standard Life PlcStandard Chartered Plc

St James’s Place PlcSse Plc

Smith & Nephew PlcSky Plc

Shire PlcSevern Trent Plc

Schroders PlcSainsbury (J) Plc

Sage Group Plc/TheAbi Sab Group Holding Ltd

Rsa Insurance Group PlcRoyal Mail Plc

Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B ShsRoyal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs

Royal Bank Of Scotland GroupRolls-Royce Holdings Plc

Rio Tinto PlcRexam Ltd

Relx PlcReckitt Benckiser Group Plc

Randgold Resources LtdPrudential Plc

Provident Financial PlcPersimmon Plc

Pearson PlcPaddy Power Betfair Plc

Old Mutual PlcNext Plc

National Grid PlcMondi Plc

Merlin EntertainmentMediclinic International Plc

Marks & Spencer Group PlcLondon Stock Exchange Group

Lloyds Banking Group PlcLegal & General Group PlcLand Securities Group Plc

Kingfisher PlcJohnson Matthey Plc

Itv PlcIntu Properties Plc

Intl Consolidated Airline-DiIntertek Group Plc

Intercontinental Hotels GrouInmarsat Plc

Informa PlcImperial Brands Plc

Hsbc Holdings PlcHargreaves Lansdown Plc

Hammerson PlcGlencore Plc

Glaxosmithkline PlcGkn Plc

Fresnillo PlcExperian Plc

Easyjet PlcDixons Carphone Plc

Direct Line Insurance GroupDiageo Plc

Dcc PlcCrh Plc

Compass Group PlcCoca-Cola Hbc Ag-Di

Centrica PlcCarnival Plc

Capita PlcBurberry Group Plc

Bunzl PlcBt Group Plc

British Land Co PlcBritish American Tobacco Plc

Bp PlcBhp Billiton Plc

Berkeley Group Holdings/TheBarratt Developments Plc

Barclays PlcBae Systems Plc

Babcock Intl Group PlcAviva Plc

Astrazeneca PlcAssociated British Foods Plc

Ashtead Group PlcArm Holdings Plc

Antofagasta PlcAnglo American Plc

Admiral Group Plc3I Group Plc

#N/A

1,151.50

0.00

0.00

265.80

4,640.00

166.58

710.40

4,325.00

1,331.50

1,132.50

237.80

169.60

0.00

611.90

1,096.00

1,147.00

1,403.00

1,545.00

4,385.00

1,933.50

2,980.00

323.50

579.60

0.00

606.00

477.40

2,518.50

2,482.50

244.80

964.40

3,534.50

0.00

1,633.00

6,507.00

4,700.00

1,679.50

629.00

2,382.00

861.60

6,880.00

0.00

5,468.00

802.80

2,070.00

383.50

477.00

293.30

4,794.00

58.88

250.90

889.50

263.00

3,517.00

162.00

154.20

674.20

5,000.00

4,665.00

504.60

753.20

2,691.50

652.20

2,190.00

459.60

295.10

1,502.40

0.00

800.20

1,938.50

1,415.00

161.65

323.80

2,678.50

6,950.00

2,437.00

1,645.00

2,566.00

144.35

4,658.00

143.90

2,122.00

2,404.00

224.05

617.60

3,763.00

552.90

1,517.40

3,611.00

557.00

172.22

618.60

712.00

477.20

5,717.00

2,229.00

2,387.00

0.00

758.80

1,486.00

2,017.00

916.20

0.00

-1.07

0.00

0.00

-0.51

-0.17

0.23

-0.81

0.58

0.79

-0.26

0.42

1.07

0.00

-0.79

-0.41

-8.28

1.08

0.06

0.98

-0.44

-0.23

1.13

-0.07

0.00

-0.88

1.49

1.02

0.98

-0.61

-1.09

1.39

0.00

-1.24

-0.05

1.03

0.00

-0.51

0.42

-0.58

0.73

0.00

0.81

-0.63

-0.38

1.54

-0.15

1.52

1.18

-0.59

-0.40

-0.39

-0.75

0.40

1.54

1.45

1.08

-0.28

0.73

-0.16

0.48

3.18

0.22

-0.64

1.64

2.86

0.55

0.00

0.78

0.34

1.51

0.40

-0.92

-0.17

-0.07

-1.93

0.89

0.67

-3.61

-0.02

-1.44

1.87

0.12

0.18

-0.58

5.87

1.64

1.44

0.19

-0.07

-1.44

-0.26

-0.92

-0.15

-0.26

0.09

-0.46

0.00

2.49

1.30

0.10

0.33

0.00

2,613,769

-

-

10,426,647

359,173

43,027,133

2,870,205

1,919,238

1,162,220

893,797

20,727,808

11,573,866

-

6,613,311

1,150,798

12,365,384

1,922,567

1,264,702

1,200,975

886,324

286,566

4,893,187

2,323,972

-

1,444,496

2,478,495

3,576,298

4,229,462

14,478,515

7,587,599

3,576,165

-

5,181,847

1,326,752

595,833

4,551,605

643,398

780,187

3,630,369

182,422

-

346,712

9,767,847

1,674,759

1,424,515

889,413

6,193,256

497,609

109,005,476

14,234,974

1,431,912

6,189,522

543,043

10,261,346

1,887,672

4,310,992

367,900

446,279

2,001,672

2,171,486

3,655,106

27,046,284

612,564

2,062,321

43,694,290

5,987,522

-

1,103,222

1,822,559

2,732,753

3,542,094

2,971,537

3,300,888

260,531

1,123,823

1,987,387

565,999

28,498,454

511,567

6,171,037

2,789,914

783,684

14,906,890

2,086,861

9,617,865

33,555,218

7,843,586

367,223

3,861,625

36,947,754

5,299,857

2,065,661

9,217,806

1,501,698

1,151,169

2,319,615

-

3,666,694

4,848,429

579,576

2,119,025

-

FTSE 100

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Hitachi LtdTakeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Jfe Holdings IncSumitomo Corp

Canon IncNintendo Co Ltd

Eisai Co LtdIsuzu Motors Ltd

Unicharm CorpShin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd

Smc CorpMitsubishi Corp

Asahi Group Holdings LtdKeyence Corp

Nidec CorpNomura Holdings Inc

Daiichi Sankyo Co LtdSubaru Corp

Ntt Docomo IncSumitomo Realty & Developmen

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd

711.80

4,574.00

2,298.50

1,757.00

3,375.00

39,340.00

10,255.00

1,593.00

3,749.00

9,341.00

32,510.00

3,142.00

4,831.00

58,920.00

15,300.00

511.20

4,559.00

3,059.00

2,928.00

3,746.00

3,543.00

-1.21

-0.57

-0.43

0.06

-0.97

0.49

-1.54

-0.84

0.81

-4.35

-1.69

0.13

1.00

-1.80

-3.07

-0.58

-0.09

-0.07

1.44

-0.11

0.54

16,505,000

4,858,600

2,784,600

4,088,500

3,388,800

1,452,300

733,700

1,373,000

1,539,100

2,841,500

321,300

3,238,100

929,000

317,500

977,200

12,672,700

1,268,900

3,002,000

4,483,700

984,000

1,577,600

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Orix CorpDaiwa Securities Group Inc

Softbank Group CorpMizuho Financial Group Inc

Central Japan Railway CoNitori Holdings Co Ltd

T&D Holdings IncToyota Motor Corp

Hoya CorpSumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdin

Japan Tobacco IncOsaka Gas Co Ltd

Sumitomo Electric IndustriesOno Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Ajinomoto Co IncMitsui Fudosan Co Ltd

Daikin Industries LtdToray Industries Inc

Bridgestone CorpSony Corp

Astellas Pharma IncJxtg Holdings Inc

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo MetaSuzuki Motor Corp

Nippon Telegraph & TelephoneSompo Holdings Inc

Daiwa House Industry Co LtdKomatsu Ltd

West Japan Railway CoMurata Manufacturing Co Ltd

Kansai Electric Power Co IncDenso Corp

Dai-Ichi Life Holdings IncMazda Motor Corp

Mitsui & Co LtdKao Corp

Sekisui House LtdOriental Land Co Ltd

Secom Co LtdTokio Marine Holdings Inc

Aeon Co LtdFanuc Corp

Daito Trust Construct Co LtdOtsuka Holdings Co Ltd

Resona Holdings IncAsahi Kasei Corp

Kirin Holdings Co LtdMitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro

Marubeni CorpMitsubishi Chemical Holdings

Fast Retailing Co LtdMs&Ad Insurance Group Holdin

Kubota CorpSeven & I Holdings Co Ltd

Inpex CorpSumitomo Mitsui Financial Gr

Ana Holdings IncMitsubishi Electric Corp

Honda Motor Co LtdTokyo Gas Co Ltd

Tokyo Electron LtdPanasonic Corp

Fujitsu LtdEast Japan Railway Co

Itochu CorpFujifilm Holdings Corp

Yamato Holdings Co LtdChubu Electric Power Co Inc

Mitsubishi Estate Co LtdMitsubishi Heavy Industries

Shiseido Co LtdShionogi & Co Ltd

Recruit Holdings Co LtdJapan Airlines Co Ltd

Nitto Denko CorpKddi Corp

Rakuten IncKyocera Corp

Nissan Motor Co Ltd

1,752.50

664.00

10,495.00

192.00

22,035.00

16,845.00

1,623.50

6,661.00

6,318.00

4,307.00

2,944.00

2,058.00

1,668.50

2,924.00

1,868.00

2,420.50

14,335.00

815.60

3,939.00

6,352.00

1,881.00

737.70

2,108.50

7,085.00

4,889.00

4,372.00

3,149.00

3,000.00

7,525.00

17,015.00

1,627.50

5,290.00

2,074.00

1,238.00

1,841.00

8,800.00

1,650.00

11,305.00

9,100.00

5,097.00

2,491.00

20,890.00

14,390.00

5,404.00

594.90

1,560.00

2,739.50

666.00

916.00

945.20

55,290.00

3,300.00

1,708.00

4,755.00

1,267.00

4,312.00

3,795.00

1,422.00

3,117.00

2,634.00

16,535.00

1,255.50

779.60

10,175.00

1,943.50

4,708.00

3,332.00

1,635.00

1,780.00

3,998.00

7,618.00

6,577.00

3,517.00

3,982.00

8,015.00

3,001.00

816.30

6,491.00

1,028.00

0.86

0.35

3.40

-0.36

0.27

2.56

-1.07

-0.58

1.79

-0.87

0.99

-0.77

-0.63

0.00

-0.08

-0.31

-0.55

-0.98

-0.81

0.27

-0.24

0.05

-0.17

0.01

0.45

-2.19

-0.60

-1.51

0.93

-4.25

-0.03

0.61

-0.26

0.20

1.04

0.73

-1.37

-2.21

0.24

-0.51

1.76

-0.62

-5.17

-0.39

-1.34

-0.83

0.53

-1.30

0.37

-0.77

0.04

-0.03

-1.36

2.61

2.30

-0.42

0.37

-1.18

-1.80

0.02

-3.28

-1.45

-1.33

1.40

-0.51

-1.49

1.93

0.03

-0.36

-0.89

-0.95

0.00

0.20

-0.15

-0.07

0.96

1.13

-3.02

-0.82

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg

Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-HBank Of East Asia Ltd

Bank Of China Ltd-HBank Of Communications Co-H

Belle International HoldingsBoc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd

Cathay Pacific AirwaysCk Hutchison Holdings Ltd

China Coal Energy Co-HChina Construction Bank-H

China Life Insurance Co-HChina Merchants Port Holding

China Mobile LtdChina Overseas Land & Invest

China Petroleum & Chemical-HChina Resources Beer Holding

China Resources Land LtdChina Resources Power Holdin

China Shenhua Energy Co-HChina Unicom Hong Kong Ltd

Citic LtdClp Holdings Ltd

Cnooc LtdCosco Shipping Ports Ltd

Esprit Holdings LtdFih Mobile Ltd

Hang Lung Properties LtdHang Seng Bank Ltd

Henderson Land DevelopmentHong Kong & China Gas

Hong Kong Exchanges & ClearHsbc Holdings Plc

3.11

29.10

3.32

5.51

0.00

35.45

10.98

89.90

3.14

6.35

16.62

14.74

75.75

22.95

7.52

29.50

25.15

13.16

16.16

9.06

11.00

94.55

14.16

7.41

1.73

1.01

15.04

205.00

39.15

15.68

209.60

66.65

-0.32

0.69

-1.19

0.00

0.00

-0.42

-2.83

2.28

-0.32

-1.85

-0.36

-0.81

-0.53

-0.65

0.27

-7.23

0.80

-2.95

-1.46

-1.09

-0.90

2.38

1.43

-1.98

1.17

1.00

1.21

1.69

1.56

0.90

-0.76

0.53

18,329,722

3,105,639

377,546,352

38,555,966

-

10,790,027

3,018,741

7,900,190

5,303,693

404,203,155

37,401,684

4,362,594

21,137,707

8,291,639

98,982,760

12,609,686

11,581,617

7,179,941

23,748,312

39,258,226

8,629,013

5,040,360

88,501,601

4,304,907

3,239,467

4,069,361

5,440,957

1,679,118

3,041,085

11,980,595

4,973,226

20,357,426

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Hutchison Whampoa LtdInd & Comm Bk Of China-H

Li & Fung LtdMtr Corp

New World DevelopmentPetrochina Co Ltd-H

Ping An Insurance Group Co-HPower Assets Holdings Ltd

Sino Land CoSun Hung Kai Properties

Swire Pacific Ltd - Cl ATencent Holdings Ltd

Wharf Holdings Ltd

0.00

5.35

1.92

40.75

9.76

5.76

72.25

55.55

12.80

113.00

85.10

308.40

21.75

0.00

-2.01

-1.03

2.52

-0.41

0.35

-1.37

0.45

-0.62

1.35

0.47

0.13

0.23

-

317,860,589

24,795,807

8,035,495

7,468,586

92,666,937

42,372,264

3,236,126

2,136,750

3,115,966

588,649

23,489,734

3,865,513

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zee Entertainment EnterpriseYes Bank Ltd

Wipro LtdVedanta Ltd

Ultratech Cement LtdTech Mahindra Ltd

Tata Steel LtdTata Power Co Ltd

Tata Motors LtdTata Consultancy Svcs Ltd

Sun Pharmaceutical IndusState Bank Of India

Reliance Industries LtdPunjab National Bank

Power Grid Corp Of India LtdOil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd

Ntpc LtdMaruti Suzuki India Ltd

Mahindra & Mahindra LtdLupin Ltd

Larsen & Toubro LtdKotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

Itc LtdInfosys Ltd

Indusind Bank LtdIdea Cellular Ltd

Icici Bank LtdHousing Development Finance

Hindustan Unilever LtdHindalco Industries Ltd

Hero Motocorp LtdHdfc Bank Limited

Hcl Technologies LtdGrasim Industries Ltd

Gail India LtdDr. Reddy’s Laboratories

Coal India LtdCipla Ltd

Cairn India LtdBosch Ltd

Bharti Airtel LtdBharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

Bharat Heavy ElectricalsBank Of Baroda

Bajaj Auto LtdAxis Bank Ltd

Asian Paints LtdAmbuja Cements Ltd

Adani Ports And Special EconAcc Ltd

463.85

314.30

328.75

223.60

4,096.35

739.80

605.55

74.00

262.40

2,043.95

649.90

285.30

1,252.50

81.15

193.80

168.50

170.00

8,493.95

938.15

959.35

1,352.25

1,230.40

306.80

742.90

1,828.35

46.20

322.90

1,877.80

1,626.85

237.90

3,163.75

2,011.85

1,086.80

1,019.60

370.10

2,529.15

281.55

656.45

0.00

21,049.95

376.70

334.15

75.10

133.55

2,867.95

635.45

1,291.00

226.60

376.05

1,554.40

-0.46

-0.73

1.48

1.80

-0.27

-0.99

2.27

-0.60

-1.83

-0.11

3.09

0.96

1.20

-0.67

3.69

0.42

0.15

-0.27

-0.53

2.03

1.70

1.99

3.23

1.17

0.10

0.00

-1.12

0.52

2.28

2.72

-0.64

0.57

0.16

1.56

-0.55

0.19

-0.55

0.24

0.00

2.67

-0.53

-1.15

-2.59

-4.95

1.21

-2.26

-0.53

2.91

3.13

2.30

SENSEX

Company Name Lt Price % Chg

WORLD INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

GCC INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

Dow Jones Indus. AvgS&P 500 Index

Nasdaq Composite IndexS&P/Tsx Composite Index

Mexico Bolsa IndexBrazil Bovespa Stock Idx

Ftse 100 IndexCac 40 Index

Dax IndexIbex 35 Tr

Nikkei 225Japan Topix

Hang Seng IndexAll Ordinaries Indx

Nzx All IndexBse Sensex 30 Index

Nse S&P Cnx Nifty IndexStraits Times Index

Karachi All Share IndexJakarta Composite Index

26,069.05

2,885.99

7,939.09

16,044.80

49,039.34

74,805.96

7,313.36

5,332.13

12,032.30

9,306.80

22,604.61

1,691.32

26,345.04

6,283.87

1,618.62

37,717.96

11,369.90

3,124.65

29,654.63

5,798.15

+97.99

-1.90

-33.39

-49.45

+143.54

+149.45

+39.82

+48.34

+62.03

+22.70

-60.08

-7.59

-77.51

-3.78

-6.25

+304.83

+82.40

+14.74

-194.33

-32.97

Doha Securities MarketSaudi Tadawul

Kuwait Stocks ExchangeBahrain Stock Exchage

Oman Stock MarketAbudhabi Stock MarketDubai Financial Market

9,990.17

7,635.38

#N/A N/A

1,340.51

4,530.55

4,934.44

2,809.87

+59.10

-57.69

#N/A N/A

-2.17

+44.44

-58.18

-23.11

“Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended as an off er or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on this data.”

4,670,000

6,090,200

8,316,300

102,462,000

262,000

253,200

1,769,200

5,317,400

1,235,400

1,328,200

4,519,500

1,102,600

1,704,100

1,710,000

1,798,100

2,647,300

913,700

5,112,700

2,150,100

6,722,700

7,099,700

10,689,500

2,692,900

1,481,900

2,085,200

1,180,600

1,789,400

3,710,000

367,200

1,626,200

1,896,300

1,364,800

2,936,100

3,328,800

4,886,000

1,269,900

3,111,300

856,600

628,600

1,642,100

3,245,300

723,800

550,400

965,700

13,009,700

2,521,600

2,230,700

43,975,500

4,951,200

5,014,600

662,700

1,753,600

10,455,200

2,855,200

5,372,900

4,738,300

1,018,200

9,189,100

4,210,200

1,041,600

1,982,100

7,117,600

8,730,000

849,100

4,493,100

1,593,400

1,674,600

1,380,600

2,609,700

1,574,400

1,499,500

1,050,900

4,484,900

1,235,000

920,500

4,037,300

5,812,800

1,864,400

10,639,200

1,725,074

27,827,876

6,485,543

9,674,065

241,258

4,053,968

9,236,267

3,373,641

15,822,712

2,469,715

12,011,974

23,843,736

8,524,838

38,245,922

7,834,571

5,852,259

6,057,009

686,743

2,915,678

4,342,417

1,435,568

2,204,663

21,275,172

4,921,770

1,178,137

25,759,884

15,881,061

2,676,571

1,885,227

9,238,381

450,480

3,238,907

2,134,392

1,072,796

3,911,725

1,531,655

2,530,592

3,501,645

-

29,559

4,828,532

6,621,647

10,357,414

36,386,733

479,352

15,271,348

1,149,495

2,553,148

4,001,592

559,272

Volume

Volume

Gulf Times Thursday, September 13, 2018

BUSINESS7

Page 8: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s
Page 9: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s
Page 10: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s
Page 11: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS11Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

AFPHanoi

China warned yesterday that protectionism poses a “serious hazard” to growth and cau-

tioned “individual countries” against isolationism, in a veiled reference to the deepening trade spat between Washington and Beijing.

The comments from China’s vice premier comes as the world’s top two economic powers edged closer to an all-out trade war after imposing tit-for-tat tariff s on billions of dollars of imports.

Tensions were heightened last week when President Donald Trump threatened to hit all China’s exports to the US, worth more than $500bn as he doubles down on “America First” agenda he says aims to protect jobs and industries from overseas competition.

But without directly naming Trump or the United States, Hu Chunhua warned yesterday against countries going it alone and upending the glo-balised trading system.

“Some individual countries’ pro-tectionist and unilateral measures are gravely undermining the rules-based multilateral trading regime, posing a most serious hazard to the world econ-omy,” Hu said at the World Economic Forum in Hanoi.

“Self-isolation will lead nowhere and only openness for all represents the right way forward,” he added.

The escalating trade spat between Washington and Beijing is being close-ly watched in Southeast Asia where some export-focused economies may be set to gain from the fallout.

Rising labour costs in China have already precipitated a push into coun-tries such as Vietnam and Cambodia where Adidas shoes, H&M T-shirts and Samsung phones are made on the cheap.

But the trade war has accelerated that process, with several Chinese fi rms turning to the region to produce items from bike parts to mattresses in a bid to avoid the US tariff s.

“Asean countries don’t want to count their chickens before they hatch,” Fred Burke, managing partner at Baker Mc-Kenzie in Vietnam, told AFP.

“But I think they see it on a net ba-sis as a gain for them because it means

shifting manufacturing into Southeast Asia that was...(earlier) in China.”

Although there could be a short-term boon to Southeast Asia, some analysts warn the long-term may be less rosy.

The region is “very export-driven.... so any shift toward more trade barri-ers... is not good”, Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacifi c chief economist at IHS Markit, told AFP.

Asean trade increased by a value of nearly $1tn between 2007 and 2014, according to WEF, as the bloc has en-

thusiastically embraced trade liberali-sation – in contrast to the policies pro-moted by Trump.

In one of his fi rst post-election moves, the US president pulled out of the sprawling 12-nation Trans-Pacifi c Partnership (TPP), calling it a job killer.

The current edition of the WEF, which closes today, is offi cially themed “Entrepreneurship and the Fourth In-dustrial Revolution”, with a focus on how economies should adapt to so-called “disruptive technologies” like automation and artifi cial intelligence

that threaten to replace human jobs.Several regional leaders are slated

to attend the forum, including Indo-nesian President Joko Widodo, Cam-bodia’s newly re-elected strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myan-mar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces fresh global scrutiny over the Rohingya crisis.

She is scheduled to speak at the fo-rum Thursday, though organisers have not said whether she will discuss last week’s ruling by the International Criminal Court that allows its chief

prosecutor to investigate the forced deportation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military as a possible crime against humanity.

Myanmar has also faced interna-tional censure over the decision to jail two Reuters journalists for seven years for their coverage of a Muslim mas-sacre, under a draconian state secrets law.

South Korean and Japanese for-eign ministers will also host a session touching on tensions with North Korea and regional security issues today.

China warns of ‘serious hazard’ of protectionism

Tencent under pressure to step up its gameReutersHong Kong

Tencent Holdings, which has lost some $200bn in market value this year, is facing fresh criticism

from analysts and investors unnerved by regulatory roadblocks, a fuzzy overseas strategy and growing debt.

The gaming and social media fi rm is one of a number of Chinese Internet companies whose prospects are sudden-ly in question after years of spectacular growth.

But Tencent’s fall, triggered mainly by a government crackdown on online gaming, has been especially dramatic.

In the latest setback, Tencent on Mon-day shut an online Texas Hold’Em poker game in response to government scru-tiny.

The authorities have frozen approval of new games and prevented Tencent from making money on some of its most popular titles, moves attributed to con-cerns about internet addiction and the violent and salacious content of some games.

“There is no sign the government has

the will to loosen its grip on content-re-lated businesses,” said Max Guo, associ-ate director of investment at Zeal Asset Management in Hong Kong. “Tencent

will remain a victim for the time being.”The domestic regulatory troubles,

combined with a weakening Chinese economy, have laid bare Tencent’s failure

to develop a viable international strat-egy, some analysts say.

The company’s WeChat messaging app, ubiquitous in China for everything from payments to entertainment, has gained little traction overseas.

As of 2016, Tencent was getting just 5% of its revenue from international operations, according to Eikon data, the latest available, compared with more than half for US internet giants like Google and Facebook.

“China is going to run out of growth soon,” said Richard Windsor, an inde-pendent analyst with Radio Free Mobile.

But international expansion is getting tougher by the day, he said, as consumers in other countries become accustomed to rival mobile apps.

Compared with homegrown ri-val Alibaba Holdings, which is known for a more aggressive investment style that often involve acquiring control-ling stakes and forming joint ventures, Tencent tends to take minority stakes in strategic investments.

Its main international initiatives in the past year have included an investment in Tesla Inc and an increased stake in Snap Inc, which have both struggled.

According to exchange fi lings, Ten-cent’s investments in listed and unlisted associates rose to a record 152.8bn yuan ($22.23bn) at the end of June.

Share of profi t of associates and joint ventures increased by 206% year-on-year to 1.5bn yuan.

At the same time, the company’s net debt increased to 35bn yuan in the sec-ond quarter. That compares with net cash of 21bn yuan in June last year.

The company said the shift to a net debt position this year was mainly due to increased strategic investments.

“The strategic investment team of Tencent should focus on generating syn-ergy with its core business and shaping up a coherent narrative for expansion,” said Charlie Chai, a Shanghai-based analyst with 86Research. “So far its in-vestments are not creating much share-holder value.”

Founded in 1998, Shenzhen-based Tencent enjoyed uninterrupted growth from when it went public in 2004 until this year.

Its shares have surged more than 88 times since its IPO, and its market value hit a peak of $578bn in January before crashing to $380bn now.

Pioneer receives $540mn lifeline from BaringReutersTokyo

Japan’s Pioneer Corp secured a bailout worth up to ¥60bn ($540mn) from Baring Pri-

vate Equity Asia, after failed bets on car navigation and audio systems saddled it with debt and pushed it into the red.

Under the terms of the deal, the once-popular stereo maker said it will issue around ¥50bn to ¥60bn worth of shares to Bar-ing by end-December and obtain a ¥25bn bridge loan from the Hong Kong-based investment fi rm next week, allowing Pioneer to pay down a bank loan due later this month.

Its shares, however, tumbled 9.3% yesterday on worries of earnings dilution and as doubts remained about whether the fund infusion and Baring’s back-ing would be enough to pull the company out of the doldrums.

“Pioneer’s fate depends on whether it can expand in next-generation car navigation sys-tems for self-driving cars, and the Hong Kong fund is appar-ently seeing the potential there,” said Masayuki Otani, chief mar-ket analyst at Securities Japan.

But Otani said Pioneer “will face a very tough race with major automotive component suppli-ers” and that it is at a disadvan-tage “because it doesn’t have any major automakers as large shareholders”.

After selling its consumer electronics business in 2014, Pioneer focused mostly on car navigation systems, a technol-ogy rendered largely obsolete thanks to maps available on smartphones.

Development costs for ad-vanced navigation systems have soared as companies including Panasonic Corp and Bosch have poured money into next genera-tion cockpits for cars that make driving safer and luxurious, edg-ing out cash-strapped compa-nies like Pioneer.

Meanwhile, deep-pocketed rivals such as Samsung Elec-tronics have altered the compet-itive landscape with acquisitions of smaller fi rms including Har-man International.

After Wednesday’s share drop, Pioneer’s market capitalisation was less than 45bn yen, poten-tially smaller than the lifeline it will receive.

Pioneer, which had ¥50bn of interest bearing debt as of end-March, last month fl agged the risk of its ability to continue as a going concern.

It posted a net loss of ¥7.1bn in the year ended in March, up from the previous year’s ¥5bn loss.

The Japanese company also said last month it was consider-ing a major review of its car au-dio systems business and was in tie-up talks with several fi rms, including Calsonic Kansei.

Pioneer has since not revealed more details.

The turn in fortunes has been sharp for Pioneer, once famous for its car stereos and CD players and worth more than ¥1tn in the 1990s.

The company also dominated the Japanese commercial-use Karaoke market through the 1980s.

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua (left), Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) and Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, pose for photo during the Welcoming ceremony at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Some individual countries’ protectionist and unilateral measures are gravely undermining the rules-based multilateral trading regime, posing a most serious hazard to the world economy,” Hu said.

Trade war takes a heavy toll on Chinese stocks, investorsReutersShanghai

It’s barely six months into a broadening

Sino-US trade war, and the fallout has

already driven China’s stock markets into

the same league as debilitated emerging

markets such as Turkey, Argentina and

Venezuela.

With around a 20% loss so far in 2018,

Shanghai’s stock market has joined the

crisis-hit trio among the world’s four worst

performers.

In stark contrast, the technology heavy

US Nasdaq index is one of the world’s big-

gest gainers, up about 15.5%.

While some analysts say the rest of the

world remains complacent about how

disruptive a trade war could get between

the two biggest economies – with their

deep and long production supply chain

– the accusation could not be levelled at

investors in Chinese markets, which have

been haemorrhaging.

Besides the headline drop in share

values, China’s currency has fallen sharply

and share transaction volumes have

shrunk.

Money managers are preferring cash

over investments and investors have

dashed into the safety of lower-yielding

government bonds.

“I’ve seen hedge funds sitting on $10bn

of cash or equivalent and waiting to get

back into the market,” said Chi Lo, Greater

China economist at BNP Paribas Invest-

ment Partners, adding the uncertainty and

lack of confidence could drag on for a few

months.

And the war may have only just begun.

China and US President Donald Trump’s

administration have so far only kicked off

tit-for-tat tariff s on $50bn of each other’s

imports.

Trump has said he is prepared to tax

the entire roughly $500bn of Chinese

products that the United States imports

annually.

Lo, at BNP Paribas Investment Partners,

fears China’s economic growth could slip

next year to 6.2%, the slowest since 1990,

as the full impact of the tariff s kicks in.

UBS Securities estimates a full-blown

trade war would wipe out profit growth

at major China-listed companies, and the

blue-chip index could fall to 3,000 points

in its worst-case scenario, which is around

7% below current levels.

While most economists polled by

Reuters last month expected the trade

war to also hurt the US economy, some

US sectors, such as technology, are seen

by investors as less exposed than many

more export-focused Chinese companies,

spurring Chinese buyers to shift funds into

US stocks.

Guotai Nasdaq 100 QDII-ETF, a Shang-

hai-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF)

tracking Nasdaq, has seen assets under

management (AUM) surge 160% over the

past two months, while the Bosera S&P

500 ETF saw its assets jump by half.

“I plan to put more money into Nasdaq,

which is home to the world’s most innova-

tive stocks, such as Google and Microsoft,”

said retail investor Ding Ou, who has

reaped returns of more than 20% investing

in the Nasdaq ETF, but suff ered heavy

losses buying domestic shares. “If the

trade war escalates further, Chinese stocks,

and also yuan, could continue to fall.”

Nearly 1tn yuan gushed into Chinese

money market funds in July, the fastest

pace this year, boosting their assets by

12%.

Major exchange-traded Chinese money

market funds, which trade like stocks and

thus are more popular among stock inves-

tors, have also seen heavy inflows.

The top four money market ETFs regis-

tered asset growth of roughly 50% since

end-June.

Meanwhile, investors continue to shun

Chinese stocks, even after the slump drove

valuations to levels seen as cheap.

Their aversion has partly to do with

China’s domestic campaign over the past

couple of years to deleverage its economy.

The benchmark Shanghai index trades

at a price to earnings ratio of 11.2, and trad-

ing volume has shrunk to near four-year

lows, according to Reuters data.

The S&P 500 index is twice as expensive

at a ratio of 22.

Some fret that gap could widen further

if the trade spat puts further strain on the

outlook for Chinese firms’ profits.

“The valuation data you see is static, but

corporate health is dynamic,” said Wu Kan,

head of equity trading at Shanghai-based

Shanshan Finance. “One major concern is

that companies’ earnings forecasts could

be downgraded.”

A sign of Tencent is seen during the fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. The gaming and social media firm is one of a number of Chinese Internet companies whose prospects are suddenly in question after years of spectacular growth.

Page 12: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

China’s banks extend over $186bn in new yuan loansReutersBeijing

Chinese banks made fewer new loans in August than expected, highlighting problems facing the

central bank as it tries to boost credit to smaller companies facing weaker demand at home and shrinking export orders.

With US trade duties threatening to ratchet up pressure on China’s already slowing economy, its policymakers have shifted focus in recent months to growth-boosting measures, pushing banks to lend more and bringing down fi nancing costs.

Chinese banks extended 1.28tn yuan ($186.40bn) in net new yuan loans in August, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) yes-terday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had pre-dicted an August tally of 1.3tn yuan, down from July’s 1.45tn yuan but nearly 20% more than the same month last year.

“Financing demand is relatively weak as fi rms are unwilling to borrow,” said Luo Yunfeng, chief analyst at Mer-chants Securities in Beijing.

Corporate lending fell from July, while household loans picked up sharp-ly, suggesting banks are taking on more exposure to relatively safer consumer loans as corporate credit quality deteri-orates along with the slowing economy.

Corporate loans fell to 612.7bn yuan in August from 650.1bn yuan a month earlier.

Household loans, mostly mortgages, rose to 701.2bn yuan in August from 634.4bn yuan in July.

Household loans also accounted for 54.8% of total new loans in August, ver-sus 43.8% in the preceding month.

Adding to signs of fading credit con-fi dence, analysts pointed to a sharp rise in banks’ bill fi nancing amid suspicion that they are seeking to expand their loan books with such short-term loans to limit default risks. Bill fi nancing jumped to 409.9bn yuan in August, ac-counting for nearly a third of new loans and up from 238.8bn yuan in July.

Broad M2 money supply grew 8.2% in August from a year earlier.

Analysts had expected it to rise 8.5%, matching July’s pace.

Outstanding yuan loans grew 13.2% from a year earlier, matching expecta-tions and in line with July.

To head off a sharper slowdown in the economy and weather the US trade row, China is ramping up infrastructure spending and pumping ample liquidity into the fi nancial system to guide bor-rowing rates lower. The central bank

also is trying to encourage banks to keep lending to struggling small and mid-sized private fi rms, which traditionally have a tougher time accessing aff ord-able funding than their larger, state-owned peers.

Regulators reportedly said in August they would encourage banks to roll over loans to smaller fi rms without requiring repayment of principal.

But China’s commercial banks are in-creasingly cautious.

Non-performing loans jumped sharply for smaller banks in the second quarter and corporate bond defaults are on the rise, even as Beijing tries to maintain a broader clampdown on risk-ier lending and prevent another explo-sive jump in debt.

At least 13 lenders, including 10 rural

commercial banks, have had their credit ratings cut or outlooks downgraded to negative since the start of 2017, accord-ing to a Reuters analysis in July.

With the Trump administration ex-pected to trigger more tariff s against Beijing at any time, and possibly extend them to cover virtually all of China’s ex-ports to the United States, analysts are pencilling in more fi scal and monetary policy support measures in coming months.

The PBoC has already cut banks’ re-serve requirement ratios (RRR) three times so far this year, with at least one more RRR cut expected in 2018.

To be sure, total new bank loans in the fi rst eight months of the year jumped nearly 19% from a year earlier to 11.76tn yuan. That is well on track to set a new

full-year record, eclipsing last year’s 13.53tn yuan.

But increased bank lending has barely compensated for shrinking off -balance sheet shadow loans, which have been one of the major targets of regulators as they seek to reduce systemic fi nancial risks.

Shadow lending has been an impor-tant source of funds for cash-starved private fi rms.

Combined trust loans, entrusted loans and undiscounted bankers’ ac-ceptances, which are common forms of shadow banking fi nance, fell by 267.4bn yuan in August, following a slide of 1.75tn yuan in the fi rst seven months.

Annual growth in outstanding total social fi nancing (TSF), a broad meas-ure of credit which includes off -balance

sheet forms of fi nancing, slowed to 10.1% in August, the lowest on record, from July’s 10.3%.

TSF did rise to 1.52tn yuan in August from 1.04tn yuan in July.

Capital Economics believes that a sharp jump in local government bond issuance supported the monthly read-ing, but said the pace is not sustainable given they are close to hitting their an-nual quotas.

“Policymakers will soon need to turn to other measures, such as fur-ther monetary easing or a relaxation of constraints on off -budget local govern-ment borrowing, in order to put a fl oor beneath credit growth and help prop up economic activity,” senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said in a note.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 13, 201812

Garuda drops 2018 profi t hopesReutersJakarta

The new boss of Indonesia’s Garuda has abandoned the state-owned airline’s hopes

of making a profi t this year, saying he aimed to keep losses to less than $100mn despite rising fuel prices and a weaker rupiah.

Ari Askhara was announced as chief executive yesterday following a shareholder meeting.

He replaces Pahala Mansury, who was in the job for just 17 months and said in July he still hoped the airline could break even this year.

“We are determined to reduce our losses by a minimum target of below $100mn by the end of year,” Askhara told reporters.

“The current condition is more diffi cult. The rupiah has depreciated and oil prices are likely to increase,” he added.

Askhara said he would look at in-creasing profi table fl ying routes for new markets, including for Japan and China, and would renegotiate the company’s aircraft leases.

“Garuda will also fi nalise its mem-orandum of understanding (MoU) re-garding shares selling with its aircraft maintenance and repair unit Garuda Maintenance Facility AeroAsia (GMF AeroAsia) and strategic partners,” he said. The new CEO, whose full name is I Gusti Ngurah Askhara, had until Tuesday headed state-owned enter-prise PT Pelabuhan Indonesia 3.

He is also a former chief fi nancial offi cer of Garuda.

Mansury had been criticised by

staff for his cost-cutting The Garu-da Pilot Association (APG) briefl y threatened in July that at least 1,300 pilots and 5,000 cabin crew members from the carrier would go on strike over complaints about management, a reduction in fl ight hours and the re-moval of annual raises.

However, he told reporters that there had been “no problems” with the union, only “miscommunica-tions.”

Six directors on Garuda’s board were replaced yesterday, including Mansury.

The fl ag carrier reported a $116.86mn net loss for the fi rst six months of the year, versus a $281.8mn net loss in the same period last year, when the company was hit by big one-off costs related to Indonesia’s tax amnesty programme.

Chinese banks made fewer new loans in August than expected, highlighting problems facing the central bank as it tries to boost credit to smaller companies facing weaker demand at home and shrinking export orders. With US trade duties threatening to ratchet up pressure on China’s already slowing economy, its policymakers have shifted focus in recent months to growth-boosting measures, pushing banks to lend more and bringing down financing costs.

Malaysia’s Sapura to sell 50% stake in upstream businessto OMV

ReutersKuala Lumpur

Malaysia’s largest oil and gas

services company Sapura Energy

Bhd yesterday said it would sell

a 50% stake in its upstream busi-

ness to Austria’s OMV.

The proposed deal is based

on an enterprise value of $1.6bn,

Sapura said, adding the compa-

nies have agreed to continue

talks on an exclusive basis.

Sapura shares rose as much

as 4.5% after the announcement,

which comes weeks after the firm

said it was planning to raise 4bn

ringgit ($963.86mn) through a

proposed rights issue, in a bid to

boost its financial position and

pare down debt.

“We have explored all options

including the potential listing of

our Upstream business,” Shahril

Shamsuddin, Sapura’s president

and CEO, said in a statement.

“The invitation to enter into

this strategic partnership with a

leading oil and gas player serves

our goals and aspirations better

while providing certainty in tim-

ing and valuation,” Shahril said.

Sapura has a market capitalisa-

tion of about $484.5mn, while

OMV has a valuation of about

$16.9bn, Thomson Reuters data

shows. Last week, OMV’s head

of exploration and production,

Johann Pleininger, told Reuters

in an interview it had plans to

expand its exploration business

with an acquisition in Southeast

Asia by the end of 2018.

Earlier this year, the Austrian

firm expanded its operations in

New Zealand and the United Arab

Emirates, to balance geopoliti-

cal risks it faces in its operations

in countries like Russia, Libya

and Yemen. OMV has set aside

€10bn ($11.59bn) for acquisitions

until 2025. Sapura’s Shahril said

the strategic partnership with

OMV will complement their

continued strategy “to grow our

portfolio and expand our acreage

position”. “The partnership will

sharpen Sapura Energy’s com-

petitive advantage by leveraging

on the strength of its portfolio of

commercially viable gas fields

off shore Sarawak and its acreage

in new markets in New Zealand,

Gulf of Mexico and most recently,

Australia,” Shahril said.

BloombergBeijing

The global excitement about elec-tric cars faces a test in New York today.

China’s NIO Inc, which seeks to take on the likes of Tesla Inc, starts trading on the New York stock exchange after raising about $1bn selling American depositary shares at $6.26 apiece.

The electric-car maker, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, priced the stock near the low end of its off ering amid the tumult in Tesla shares, a global trade war and investor qualms over its manufacturing capabilities and profi t-ability.

The sale, which values NIO at about $6.4bn, will test investor appetite for electric-car makers vying to become a homegrown answer to Tesla in China, where government incentives have helped the country become the world’s biggest market for clean-energy vehi-cles.

The IPO may also be a bellwether for a clutch of Chinese startups such as Byton and Xpeng Motors Technol-ogy Ltd, which intend to compete with BMW AG, Daimler AG in convincing customers to switch to battery-pow-ered cars.

“We’re optimistic about the pros-pects of domestic electric-vehicle manufacturers,” said Xu Dalai, chief executive offi cer of Shunwei Capital Ltd, an early investor in NIO. “We be-lieve there are chances for startups to change and disrupt the whole industry with technologies.

China will see its own batch of uni-corn companies standing out. NIO is among them.”

The off ering was led by banks in-

cluding Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co, which have an option to buy 24mn additional shares to cover over- allotments.

The shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NIO.

By going public, NIO is set to attract the same type of intense scrutiny that Elon Musk’s company faces as inves-tors seek proof that it has the manufac-turing capacity to deliver on its prom-ises.

NIO had delivered fewer than 2,000 vehicles ever up until its IPO fi ling.

The company is ramping up produc-tion of the ES8 SUV, its fi rst commer-cial product, at a partner’s plant in the eastern city of Hefei.

Founder William Li has pledged to deliver 10,000 vehicles to customers

by year’s end. NIO needs to sell about 100,000 vehicles a year to break even, according to estimates by Sanford C Bernstein & Co.

Like many peers, NIO hasn’t secured an EV manufacturing licence from reg-ulators, so it tapped Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group to build its cars.

That allowed NIO to start manufac-turing while working to build a facility in Shanghai, but it also means many production-related hurdles are beyond its control.

Anhui Jianghuai works with other carmakers and also has its own ambi-tions.

In its prospectus, NIO said it expects to receive a manufacturing license in 2-3 years, and that it plans to use about a quarter of its IPO proceeds to help develop production facilities and sup-ply chain.

Electric-car maker NIO starts trading on NYSE

Workers clean a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 plane at its maintenance facility at Soekarno-Hatta airport near Jakarta. The new boss of Indonesia’s Garuda has abandoned the state-owned airline’s hopes of making a profit this year, saying he aimed to keep losses to less than $100mn despite rising fuel prices and a weaker rupiah.

Bin Li, CEO of NIO Inc, celebrates after ringing a bell as its stock begins trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the company’s initial public off ering yesterday.

Page 13: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS13Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

ReutersNew Delhi

India’s retail infl ation fell below the central bank’s medium-term target in August, increasing the likelihood

it will keep interest rates on hold in Oc-tober after raising them at its past two meetings.

Consumer prices rose 3.69% from a year earlier, down from July’s 4.17%, the Statistics Ministry said yesterday.

August was the fi rst month in 10 in which retail infl ation was below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4%.

The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters for August was 3.86 %, with three-quarters of those polled predicting infl ation would be below the RBI’s target. Forecasts ranged from 3.55% to 5.40%.

“While weakness in the rupee adds to the upside risk, factors such as still sanguine domestic food prices and moderation in global commodity prices (excluding oil) are likely to provide some relief,” said Garima Kapoor, an econo-mist at Elara Capital in Mumbai.

Slowing infl ation in food prices, which make up nearly half of India’s consumer price index (CPI), cancelled out price rises in imported goods stem-ming from the weakening rupee cur-rency.

Food infl ation slowed to 0.29% from a year earlier, against 1.37% in July.

Softening infl ation could give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a boost as he faces general elections next year.

The rupee has fallen more than 12% against the dollar this year to hit an all-time low of 72.92 yesterday.

The tumble has sparked discontent in a country that relies heavily on imports for its fuel needs. Nationwide protests over record petrol pump prices, partly a result of the rupee slide, disrupted businesses and schools this week. The RBI, which next meets on October 5, has

raised its benchmark rate by a total of 50 basis points at its past two meetings, to 6.5%, while warning about infl ationary pressures.

Core infl ation, which excludes the

volatile food and fuel sectors, was seen at around 6%, easing slightly from 6.3% in July, according to analysts.

The International Monetary Fund, in its annual report on India released in

August, warned that average infl ation was likely to rise to 5.2% in the 2018/19 fi scal year from a 17-year low of 3.6% in the previous fi scal year.

The IMF expects the central bank to

gradually tighten monetary policy in order to tame infl ation.

India’s annual economic growth surged to a more than two-year high of 8.2% in the three months through June.

India infl ation falls below RBI target despite rupee’s slide

External pressures ease as Pakistan exports rise, trade defi cit subduedInternewsIslamabad

The Pakistan government’s diffi -culties on the external front eased further as export data released

yesterday showed exports continuing to grow. Merchandise exports posted over 8% increase in August from a year ago, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

In rupee terms, export proceeds rose 27.4% in the second month of the cur-rent fi scal year, owing in signifi cant part to the 17% depreciation in the exchange rate since last year.

The export proceeds rose to $2.02bn in July FY19 from $1.86bn over the cor-responding month of last year. The monthly volume again crossed the psy-chological barrier of $2bn.

The data came a day after remittances showed a 13.5% increase from last year. Exports and remittances are the key foreign exchange earners for Pakistan’s

economy. Depleting stocks of foreign exchange, currently suffi cient for barely two months’ worth of imports, are at the heart of the immediate economic chal-lenge facing the incoming government. The depletion owes itself mainly to a galloping trade defi cit.

Since the start of the current fi scal year, data that refl ecting health of the external sector has been showing a posi-tive trend.

Remittances jumped 25% year-on-year in July as well, while the trade defi cit fl attened out. The month of Au-gust has seen that trend continue, with remittances and exports both showing healthy growth, while imports and the trade defi cit have are largely fl at.

Between July-August FY19, the export proceeds reached $3.66bn from $3.48bn over the corresponding months of last year, refl ecting an increase of 5.05%.

On the other hand, a paltry growth was recorded in imports and trade defi -cit with the latter going up by 1.2% to $4.99bn in August versus $4.93bn from

same period last year. In the fi rst two months, the import bill edged up 1.01% to $9.83bn from $9.73bn the year before.

The trade defi cit fell by 1.25% to $6.167bn in the fi rst two months of the fi scal year, July-August FY19.

The data suggests that the growing trade defi cit might have hit a peak. If subsequent months show similar tepid growth in the trade defi cit, the incoming government’s fortunes on external sec-tor could see a turnaround.

It is worth mentioning that in the last 18 months, the federal government has released nearly Rs32bn in cash support for promoting textile and clothing ex-ports. This was doled out under a spe-cial prime minister’s package and textile policy for the sector.

The last fi scal year saw the trade defi -cit rise to an all-time high of $37.6bn, representing a year-on-year growth of 15.8%. When the PML-N came to power in 2013, the country’s annual trade defi -cit was $20.44bn which has been con-tinuously on the rise since then.

South Korea jobless rate hits highest since global fi nancialcrisis in 2010

ReutersSeoul

South Korea’s unemployment rate hit an eight-year high in August as mandatory

minimum wages rose, adding to economic policy frustrations and political challenges for President Moon Jae-in whose approval rat-ing is now at its lowest since inau-guration.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in August from 3.8% in July in seasonally adjusted terms as the number of unemployed rose by 134,000 people from a year earlier.

This was the labour market’s worst performance since January 2010, when the economy was still reeling from the global fi nancial crisis, when 10,000 jobs were lost.

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said yesterday the govern-ment will need to adjust its wage policies, signalling some future soft-pedalling in the drive to raise minimum wages.

“The government will discuss slowing the speed of minimum wage hikes with the ruling party and the presidential offi ce,” Kim Dong-yeon told a policy meet-ing in Seoul, adding he did not expect a short-term recovery in the job market. Experts say the uproar over jobs could also cost Moon considerable political capi-tal as he pursues closer ties with Pyongyang, as any good news from an inter-Korean summit may not be enough to off set pub-lic discontent over the lack of jobs and soaring housing prices.

More than 60% of respondents in a Gallup Korea survey criticised Moon’s handling of the economy, including his ‘inability to im-prove the livelihoods of ordinary citizens’ and ‘minimum wage in-creases’. The jobs report showed the labour-intensive retail and accommodation sector, which lost 202,000 jobs in August from a year earlier, was the hardest hit.

A total 105,000 jobs were lost from manufacturing industries, the report said. However, the agriculture, construction and transport sectors saw a rise in the number of employed, partly off setting the rise in the number of workers laid off . The overall number of employed people rose by just 3,000 – also the worst since January 2010. Each month’s wors-ening jobs report has sparked a strong public backlash, with Presi-dent Moon Jae-in’s approval rating falling below 50% for the fi rst time on September 7. A weekly Gallup Korea survey released on Friday showed Moon’s support fell 4 per-centage points to 49%, the lowest since he took offi ce in May 2017.

“At this rate, we may not see any gains in the number of em-ployed in September or the month after that,” said Oh Suk-tae, an economist at Societe Generale.

Oh said economists at the Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank, believed this year’s 16% increase in the minimum wage – the biggest jump in nearly two decades – was discouraging employers from hiring.

A vegetables vendor speaks on his phone as he waits for customers at a market in Mumbai. India’s consumer prices rose 3.69% from a year earlier, down from July’s 4.17%, the statistics ministry said yesterday.

Banks advised not to charge fee on electronic payments

InternewsKarachi

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) yesterday directed all banks not to charge any variable transaction fee (interchange, merchant discount rate etc) on payments made to federal and provincial governments using electronic modes of payments including payment cards and electronic wallets etc.“The acquiring banks, however, may charge a pre-determined flat service fee from the government concerned entities with mutual agreement,” said the central bank. These instructions will be applicable at the time of signing of new agreement or the renewal of existing agreements, it added.“All issuing and acquiring banks, microfinance banks and payment schemes are advised to comply with these instructions,” the SBP said.

ReutersHanoi

Vietnam should be more fl exible in handling its exchange rate, and is on track to cut its public debt to about

60% of gross domestic product by 2020, its fi nance minister said in an interview yester-day.

The dong currency has weakened 2.5% this year, which traders say stems from the US-China trade war, and remains near a record low against the US dollar hit last month.

Vietnam’s central bank has been building up US dollar reserves to shore up the dong, which experts have advised should be al-lowed to depreciate more and better refl ect market conditions.

“If the dong loses value and we still prop it up, it’s not benefi cial in the long term,” Dinh Tien Dung told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Asean in Ha-noi.

“It will limit exports and domestic manu-facturing, especially since the Vietnamese economy is a trade economy. It needs to be more fl exible to support development and

growth.” It was right for Vietnam to pursue macroeconomic stability, Dung said, but also called for more fl exibility in controlling in-fl ation, now limited by a 4% ceiling for 2018.

“The ceiling for infl ation should be fl ex-ible, depending on market movements both internationally and domestically,” Dung said.

“The 4-percent infl ation target should be indicative only and (we) should not be stiff about it... We are discussing a more fl exible approach to controlling infl ation.”

Vietnam also sets a centrally-mandated target that limits its public debt to 65% of GDP.

That fi gure had risen to as much as 64% between 2011 and 2015.

But Dung said Vietnam’s public debt was projected to fall to 60% of GDP by 2020, from an expected 61.3% this year, citing strong economic growth and debt reform.

“Public debt at the moment is better, safer and is under less pressure,” Dung added.

“The rate by which debt was increasing has slowed by almost half and the overall level of debt has decreased, but, most im-portantly, the quality of public debt has im-proved tremendously.”

Vietnam minister urges fl exibility in FX policy, says debt ratio falling

To introduce 5G next year

Pakistani Minister for Information Tech-

nology and Telecommunication Khalid

Maqbool Siddiqui hinted yesterday at

introduction of 5G telecom services in Pa-

kistan next year which he believed would

attract massive foreign investment.

The country has already been

successfully experiencing 3G and 4G

mobile broadband technology and the

number of users is increasing every day.

“We need to introduce more innova-

tive services in mobile broadband not

only to facilitate consumers but also to

attract foreign investment and meet

modern-day requirements,” said Siddiq-

ui. “The world is changing rapidly and

to compete with other nations we need

to adopt new technologies.” Siddiqui

voiced hope that foreign companies

would approach Pakistan for the launch

of modern 5G services.

Vietnam’s Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung is seen during a meeting at the government off ice in Hanoi. “If the dong currency loses value and we still prop it up, it’s not beneficial in the long term,” Dung said.

ReutersHanoi

Indonesian ride-hailing fi rm Go-Jek yesterday launched its services in Vi-etnam’s capital of Hanoi under the

brand Go-Viet, as part of its $500mn in-ternational expansion.

The app-based on-demand service Go-Viet, driven by a Vietnamese founding team, with Go-Jek providing technology, expertise and investment, off ers services ranging from transport and logistics to food-delivery and mobile payments.

Go-Viet grabbed a 35% share of the market for motorbike ride-hailing serv-ices in the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City just six weeks after launching there on August 1, Go-Jek founder and chief executive Nadiem Makarim said.

“We are proud to have seen positive development in Ho Chi Minh City mar-ket, and this paves the way for us to ex-pand our services to Hanoi,” Go-Viet co-founder and managing director Nguyen Vu Duc said at yesterday’s launch. The launch followed an announcement by the company in May that it would invest

$500mn to enter the Philippines, Singa-pore, Thailand and Vietnam, following Uber’s deal to sell its Southeast Asian operations to bigger regional player Grab.

On Tuesday, Grab announced a part-nership with Vietnam’s MOCA Technol-ogy and Service company (Moca) for a mobile payment service, as the ride-hail-ing fi rm pushes to cement its position.

Yesterday’s launch was attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is in Hanoi for an offi cial state visit and a meeting of the World Economic Forum.

More Indonesian businesses are seek-ing to expand their operations in Vietnam, Widodo told reporters on Tuesday, after a meeting in Hanoi with his counterpart Tran Dai Quang.

“We expect bilateral trade to reach $10bn a year by 2020...and I hope presi-dent Tran Dai Quang would work to re-move trade barriers for Indonesian prod-ucts, including automobiles,” he said.

Trade between the countries rose to $6.5bn last year from $5.6bn in 2016, says Vietnam, which exports rice, crude oil, cement and farm produce to Indonesia, and imports fertiliser, oil products, ma-chinery and fabric from it.

Go-Jek launches services in Hanoi amid expansion drive

Page 14: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 13, 201814

Eurozone industry output drops on bad data from Germany, ItalyReutersBrussels

Production at factories in the eu-rozone dropped in July for a sec-ond consecutive month and by

more than expected, in what could her-ald a possible slowdown of the bloc’s economy in the third quarter, offi cial data released yesterday showed.

The fall was mostly caused by bad data from Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, and Italy, which has gone through a stormy summer with market jitters over large spending plans of its new eurosceptic government.

The European Union statistics agen-cy Eurostat said industry output in the 19-country currency bloc fell in July by 0.8% during the month and by 0.1% year-on-year.

The numbers are a negative surprise after economists polled by Reuters had forecast a smaller 0.5% drop month-on-month and a 1.0% rise from a year earlier.

Eurostat also revised its fi gures for June, saying industrial production fell 0.8% on the month, a bigger fall than the previous estimate of 0.7%.

The year-on-year data for June was also revised down to a 2.3% rise from 2.5%.

Both Germany and Italy, the third biggest economy in the bloc, recorded a 1.8% monthly drop in their July indus-trial production, which was only partly off set by a 0.7% increase in the output of France, the bloc’s second largest country.

“This should prove to be more food for thought for Italian political actors currently negotiating the content of the next budget,” ING analyst Paolo Pizzoli said in a note.

Market tensions over Italy have eased in the last 10 days after the government said it was committed to reducing its large debt and keeping the defi cit un-der control in its budget for next year, which will be fi nalised by mid-October.

Although output data tend to be very

volatile, industry’s marked slowdown in the fi rst month of the third quarter could be a sign of weaker economic growth.

Eurostat will release its preliminary fl ash estimate of eurozone’s growth in the third quarter on October 30.

The data were disappointing, said Jack Allen at research fi rm Capital Eco-nomics.

But he added that things were not as bad as the fi gures showed, because the drop followed an unusually strong growth in production in the second

quarter. The monthly output fall in July was mostly caused by a 1.9% drop in the production of durable consumer goods, such as cars or fridges, which could show managers’ prediction of lower consumer appetite for larger spending.

The output of non-durable con-sumer goods, such as clothing, also fell more than the overall reading, by 1.3% on the month. However, in a positive sign for future investment, the output of capital goods, such as machinery, went up by 0.7% on the month.

VW CEO sees cost of electric car lineup as higher than seenBloombergMunich

Volkswagen AG warned that its ambitious plan to off er an electric version of

each model will cost more than it estimated, forcing the world’s largest carmaker to deepen an effi ciency push to meet the spending demands.

VW had originally earmarked the shift to battery power to cost €20bn ($23bn). Now chief exec-utive offi cer Herbert Diess says this won’t suffi ce, without pro-viding a new fi gure. The com-pany needs to reduce expenses more to be able to invest in fu-ture technology and weather crises, he said.

“The burden for our com-pany, such as the cost of bring-ing to market electric cars, will be higher than expected,” Diess said in a joint interview with labour head Bernd Osterloh in VW’s internal newsletter. “This is particularly so since some of our competitors have been mak-ing more progress.”

Record spending demands to develop lineups of electric cars to keep up with tighten-ing regulation on emissions is weighing on carmakers’ bottom lines. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler AG, unveiling its fi rst standalone battery car in Stock-holm last week, also said its outlays for a model range of 10 fully electric cars by 2022 will be higher than an initial estimate of 10bn euros. Volkswagen, whose Audi brand is showing off the electric e-tron crosso-ver in San Francisco next week, plans to add some 300 plug-in hybrid and battery car versions by 2030.

Since a 2016 landmark labour pact, the Wolfsburg-based com-pany has started to reap benefi ts from reorganising its sprawl-ing universe of 12 nameplates and has lifted profi tability at its namesake brand. Group operat-ing profi t before special items last year rose to 7.4% of sales from 6.4% in 2016. A group op-erating return of as much as 8% would allow the company to weather tough times, he said.

“We need higher profi ts to fi -nance our future,” said Diess.

A multi-system motor technology mechanism, which enables vertical and horizontal elevator movement, sits inside the Thyssenkrupp Elevator test tower in Rottweill, Germany. Both Germany and Italy recorded a 1.8% monthly drop in their July industrial production, which was only partly off set by a 0.7% increase in the output of France, the bloc’s second largest country.

Danske scandal has regulators fi ghting back against bank lobbyBloombergCopenhagen

With the Danske Bank scandal fresh in their minds, regula-tors in Denmark have fought

back eff orts by the fi nancial industry to water down tougher anti-money laun-dering rules which are now due to be enforced next month.

As of October, Danish banks will be expected to live up to new guidelines that entail a continual review of risks across all levels of their organisation, including systems of governance right down to individual customer accounts. The country’s fi nancial industry had lobbied for a simpler approach, arguing the new setup is too onerous. But the Financial Supervisory Authority says it has rejected the industry’s arguments.

“The banks would have liked to have

had a tick-box,” Stig Nielsen, the head of anti-money laundering at the FSA in Copenhagen, said in an interview.

“It’s easier for them and easier to ex-plain to clients.”

Denmark’s status as one of the world’s least corrupt nations is at stake amid allegations its biggest bank was a central pipeline for channelling billions in illegal funds across Europe.

Danske is now the target of criminal investigations in Denmark and Esto-nia. The allegations point to as much as $9bn in dirty money, mostly from Rus-sia, making its way through the bank’s Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.

Danske has already lost about 30% of its market value this year as inves-tors grow uneasy at the steady fl ow of bad news. The bank says it will publish the fi ndings of a lengthy internal probe into the case on September 19. Yester-

day, Danske had another bad day on the stock market and traded close to the bottom of Bloomberg’s index of Euro-pean fi nancial fi rms, losing as much as 2%.

Meanwhile, government offi cials are pushing for tougher penalties. Bloomberg surveys of analysts points to a potential fi ne as big as $800mn for Danske. There’s also speculation as to whether chief executive offi cer Thomas Borgen, and even board Chairman Ole Andersen, will be forced to step down. Both have apologised for failing to act swiftly to close the non-resident busi-ness that was the hub of the alleged laundering.

Europe is now waking up to the need for more to be done to fi ght money laundering through coordinated ef-forts across the bloc. Yesterday, Dan-ish central bank Governor Lars Rohde said the problem is that “individual

states have very limited options to fi ght money laundering on their own, so getting a bigger international en-gagement in this area will strengthen enforcement.”

The FSA’s new guidelines are part of Denmark’s implementation of Europe’s fourth directive on money laundering, which came into force last year. The measure requires countries to employ the “risk-based approach” advocated by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force, which sets interna-tional standards.

Last year, the FATF published a scathing analysis of Denmark’s anti-money laundering framework criticis-ing in harsh terms the country’s short-comings in preventing such crime. FSA director-general Jesper Berg says he’s made it his goal “never, ever” to get such a bad report again.

Nielsen says that pledge is “really

a mantra here.” For the banks that the FSA supervises, that means having to assess risks based on business models, clients, products, and markets, and to consider those risks as they organise operations and monitor customers.

“It’s very important that they react to what’s the normal behaviour of a cli-ent,” Nielsen said. “They should have been doing this for some years, but in the new legislation it has been more carved out that they have this obliga-tion.”

Danske is just the latest in a string of major banks caught up in money laun-dering scandals, with Deutsche Bank AG and ING Groep NV among lenders tainted by similar cases.

Last Friday, the European Central Bank reiterated a call for a regional co-ordinator, as its powers don’t extend to acting against suspicious money fl ows. That currently falls to national law en-

forcement authorities in the 19 euro members.

For Danish banks, adopting a risk-based approach won’t be “an easy task,” Nielsen said. “It’s time consum-ing and a big responsibility to make risk assessments. What if you make the wrong assessment? Will that fall back on you? They felt it would give some legal certainty but that is part of the legislation.”

But Nielsen also says that even the new requirements about to come into force wouldn’t have prevented the laundering alleged to have taken place at Danske. The main issue there was that the governance wasn’t in place, he said, underscoring the regulator’s as-sessment in a May report,

“If you have a high-risk client, the requirements at that time are the same as now,” he said “They haven’t been changed.”

Tech firms face hefty fines under new EU terror rulesBloombergBrussels

Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc, Facebook Inc and other tech firms could be slapped with fines as high as 4% of annual revenue if they fail to remove terror propaganda from their sites quickly enough under new European Union legislative proposals unveiled yesterday.The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, proposed new legislation forcing internet companies to wipe Islamic State videos and other terror content from their services within

an hour of notification for removal by national authorities. Companies would be fined by national governments in the event of systematic failures to remove content.Yesterday’s proposal follows similar guidelines the EU issued in March. The EU at the time threatened to issue the regulation should the tech firms fall short of expectations.Large tech platforms have made rapid improvements in their eff orts to tackle terror content, partly thanks to automated tools, but the EU says some of the platforms have failed to meet the one-hour deadline and need to do more.

“While we have made progress on removing terrorist content online through voluntary eff orts, it has not been enough,” said Julian King, European commissioner for security policy.“We need to prevent it from being uploaded and, where it does appear, ensure it is taken down as quickly as possible — before it can do serious damage.”A 4% fine would only occur in the event of “systematic failures” in removing content. For Google parent Alphabet that would amount to more than $4.4bn and more than $1.6bn for Facebook, according to the 2017 revenues.Spokeswomen for Google’s YouTube

and Facebook both said the companies share the commission’s goal to combat the spread of terrorism content on their platforms.Automated and machine-learning tools can help tech firms catch any malicious posts. But web firms typically also use human reviewers to look over posts to try to ensure they don’t remove terror content when it’s used in a neutral context, such as by news outlets, whistle-blowers or non-governmental agencies. That can make tight turnaround times a challenge if companies want to ensure they aren’t overly censoring users.Calling the commission’s proposal

“troublesome,” Raegan MacDonald, head of EU public policy at Mozilla, said “it would force private companies to play an even greater role in defining acceptable speech online.”The move is part of a wider shift by legislators in Europe and the US to hand more legal responsibility to tech firms for the content that appears on their sites. Also yesterday, the European Parliament voted to back copyright rules that would help video, music and other rights holders seek compensation for use of their content online. In the US, President Donald Trump signed a law in April making websites liable if they knowingly facilitate sex traff icking.

The EU on Wednesday also called on the companies, member states and Europol to increase their cooperation, including by ensuring that a point of contact at each company and each national authority is reachable 24/7. The tech firms and the EU’s member states will also be required to report back to the commission regularly on the removals of terror content.The commission proposal still needs approval from the EU’s member states and the European Parliament before it becomes law. EU member states said in late June they welcomed the commission’s intentions to present a legislative proposal in the area.

ECB said to lower euro-area growth outlook on global demandBloombergFrankfurt

The European Central Bank is set to tweak its fore-

casts lower for euro-area economic growth as global

trade tensions damp external demand, according to

off icials familiar with the latest projections.

The predictions for output have been cut slightly start-

ing this year, the people said, asking not to be named

because the assessment is still confidential. The UK

and Turkey are among nations dragging on demand,

though the US outlook is still positive, the off icials said.

The darker outlook comes at an awkward time for

the Governing Council as it prepares to wind back

stimulus, though the adjustments probably aren’t big

enough to derail those plans yet. The path of inflation,

the primary consideration for monetary policy, is

largely unchanged, the off icials said.

The euro slipped after the report and traded at $1.1589

at 12:22pm Frankfurt time.

The ECB committee that oversees the compilation of

the forecasts now sees the risks to economic growth as

tilted to the downside, according to the people. While

that’s a change from policy makers’ latest view that the

risks are “broadly balanced,” the Governing Council

could choose to disagree with that assessment and

keep its existing language at its meeting on Thursday.

An ECB spokesman declined to comment.

“We’ve thought for months that it was a little strange

to say risks are balanced, when every single one

mentioned was on the downside,” said Nick Kounis,

an economist at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam.

“Given the ECB hasn’t said risks are tilted to the down-

side until now, it would be surprising if they changed

their outlook now, even though it would be justified.”

President Mario Draghi, who will unveil the final projec-

tions after the Governing Council meeting, has acknowl-

edged the damage to confidence from protectionist

threats and global uncertainties in recent months. Since

then, Turkey and Argentina have slid deeper into crisis,

triggering turmoil across the emerging-markets world,

and the UK is still at risk of breaking away from the

European Union without a trade agreement.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg last week said

they expect off icials to confirm that monthly bond

buying will be reduced to €15bn ($17bn) from €30bn

starting next month, before ending in December.

Page 15: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESS15Gulf Times

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Apple unveils larger iPhones,new health-oriented watchesReutersCupertino, California

Apple Inc unveiled larger iPhones and watches based on the design of current models yesterday, confirming expectations that the company is making only minor changes to its lineup.Apple wants users to upgrade to newer, more expensive devices as a way to boost revenue as global demand for smartphones levels off .The strategy has helped Apple become the first publicly-traded US company to hit a market value of more than $1tn earlier this year.Apple shares were down 0.9% on Nasdaq.The new phones, based on last year’s iPhone X, are named XS and XS Max, based on last year’s iPhone X.The new iPhone XS has a 5.8 inch screen size, while iPhone XS Max is 6.5 inch in size, in line with Wall Street expectations.Apple uses the ‘S’ suff ix when it upgrades components but leaves the exterior of a phone the same.Last year’s iPhone X — pronounced “ten” — represented a major redesign.Apple opened its event by saying its new Apple Watch Series 4 range will have edge-to-edge displays, like its latest phones, which are more than 30% bigger than displays on current

models. The new watch, positioned as a more comprehensive health device, will be able to detect an irregular heartbeat and start an emergency call automatically if it detects a user falling down, potentially appealing to older customers.Shares of fitness device rival Fitbit Inc fell about 3.7% after the Series 4 introduction.Shares of Garmin Ltd lost some earlier gains and were flat in midday New York trade.Shares of optical components makers Lumentum Holdings Inc and Finisar Corp, suppliers that power iPhone X’s Face ID feature and the TrueDepth camera technology, were down 1.6% and 0.4% in afternoon trading.Executives made the announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s new circular headquarters in Cupertino, California, named after the company’s co-founder who wowed the world with the first iPhone in 2007.“There’s no real game-changer on the table,” said Hal Eddins, chief economist at Apple shareholder Capital Investment Counsel. “It’s a matter of getting people to keep moving up.”The company was also expected to unveil a new version of its wireless AirPods earbuds with wireless charging and a wireless mat that will be able to charge several devices at once.

Apple says it got FDA approval for new watch, touts health gainsBloombergSan Francisco

Apple Inc yesterday unveiled the most-significant upgrades to the Apple Watch since it first went on sale in 2015, turning the product into more of a health monitoring device.The new version, called Apple Watch Series 4, has larger screens that fit into the same overall watch sizes, and new health sensors such as an electrocardiogram, or ECG, monitor. It also includes a faster dual-core processor called the S4, Apple said. The new smartwatch line was introduced at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, by chief operating off icer Jeff Williams.Williams described the latest Watch as an “intelligent guardian of your health,” noting that Apple has got clearance for the device from the US Food and Drug Administration, the first of its kind.The Watch has more-powerful sensors so it can spot when someone falls. It delivers an alert and calls emergency services if the user doesn’t move for one minute after a fall, Williams said. The ECG capability, available later this year, helps the device sense atrial

fibrillation, an irregular heart rate that can increase the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.The new line will start at $399, Apple said, compared with the $329 starting price of last year’s model. The Watch has 50% louder speakers, improving interaction with the Siri digital assistant. The back of the Watch lets more cellular signals through, making calls clearer. Battery life remains the same.Fitbit Inc, the maker of popular fitness devices, fell more than 5% as Apple unveiled its watch plans.The Apple Watch hasn’t been a monster hit like the iPhone, but it’s the world’s best-selling smartwatch and is helping the company expand health-care related services. The Watch is part of the company’s Other Products segment, which saw revenue jump 37% to $3.74bn in the fiscal third quarter. Apple shipped 4.7mn watches in that period, beating rivals like Xiaomi Corp and Fitbit Inc, according to IDC.The debut of the new Watch line comes just days after Apple said in a letter to the US government that proposed tariff s on goods imported from China could raise the price of Apple Watches and other Apple products.

Jeff Williams, COO of Apple Inc, speaks during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, yesterday. Williams described the latest Apple Watch as an “intelligent guardian of your health,” noting that Apple has got clearance for the device from the US Food and Drug Administration, the first of its kind.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc, speaks during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, yesterday. Apple wants users to upgrade to newer, more expensive devices as a way to boost revenue as global demand for smartphones levels off .

Phil Schiller, senior vice-president of worldwide marketing at Apple Inc, speaks during the launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino. Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment at Apple Inc, speaks during the launch event.

Page 16: QP signs 3-yr naphtha feedstock supply deal with India’s

BUSINESSThursday, September 13, 2018

GULF TIMES

Qatar’s banking sector sees 3.5% growth in credit, 5.3% gain in deposits in July: QNBBy Pratap JohnChief Business Reporter

In a clear sign of increasing economic activities in the country, Qatar’s banking

sector has seen a 3.5% growth in credit year-on-year in July.

According to QNB, bank de-posits have seen a 5.3% growth year-on-year in July.

Deposits from non-residents and private sector grew 6.1% and 2.2% m/m respectively in July, QNB said in its ‘Qatar Monthly Monitor – September’ released yesterday.

However, public sector de-posits with local banks have seen a 6.9% decline month-on-month in July.

The report showed that broad money supply (M2) grew 10.3% year-on-year in the country in July.

Key inter-bank rates contin-ued to hold steady, while Qatar’s 5-year credit default swap (CDS) spread edged down to 82bp; its lowest since March, ‘Qatar Monthly Monitor’ showed.

Favourable oil prices have had a positive impact on Qatar’s fi s-cal and external balances, ac-cording to the QNB report.

The country’s fi scal account turned to a surplus in the fi rst quarter (Q1) as revenue rose in

line with higher oil prices. Qa-tar’s current account surplus widened to 7.3% of GDP in the fi rst quarter while the fi nancial account defi cit narrowed.

Exports grew 45.3% year-on-

year in July as a result of higher oil prices, while imports surged 50% year-on-year due to the base eff ect from last year.

Foreign exchange reserves held by Qatar Central Bank

(QCB) rose 0.3% month-on-month to reach $45.4bn in July, equating to seven months of im-port cover.

Brent crude prices slipped to an average of $73.8/barrel in Au-

gust, the report said and noted Qatar’s oil production rose to 622,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June from 601,000 bpd in the previous month.

In the fi rst quarter of the year, the real GDP growth slowed in Q1 thanks to a further fall in hy-drocarbon output. Non-hydro-carbon GDP growth was a solid 4.9%, year-on-year.

Booming construction out-put, up 17.2% year-on-year, re-mained the key driver of activity in the non-hydrocarbon sector, QNB said.

Manufacturing gained 3% year-on-year in the fi rst quar-ter. However, the real estate price index slipped back further in June.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) infl ation held broadly steady at 0.6% year-on-year in August, it said. Qatar’s population in-creased 4.7% year-on-year to stand at 2.56mn in August; wom-en made up close to 24.6%of the population.

In the hospitality sector, 5-star and 4-star hotel occu-pancy rates dipped slightly in July to stand at 55% and 60% respectively, according to ‘Qatar Monthly Monitor’. But tradition-ally summer months have been a period of low-key activities in the country, especially in terms of tourist arrivals.

Qatar Chamber issues country’s 1st ATA Carnet to Sheikh Faisal museumQatar Chamber has issued the country’s first ATA Carnet to Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum after the system entered into force in Qatar on August 1, a statement announced yesterday.Last month, the chamber revealed that the system came into force, allowing Qatar to off icially implement the ATA Carnet, a temporary export-import document system used in the admission of goods to a country. Qatar now joins 77 other countries that employ the system. The system is being implemented by Qatar Chamber, in co-operation with International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Qatar and the General Authority of Customs.The chamber said the first carnet was issued to Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum because it will participate in an international fair in Malta and France titled ‘Dialogue of Cultures’, organised by Unesco’s bureau in

Doha, Qatar Museum Authority, and Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.According to Qatar Chamber director general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi, businessmen and companies are interested in the ATA Carnet to allow them to participate in conferences and exhibitions held outside the country.Al-Sharqi said Qatar Chamber receives applications from companies and institutions willing to use the system. He noted that business owners and customers can apply for the ATA Carnet either by visiting the chamber’s Member Aff airs Department or registering on its website. He said the ATA Carnet is issued for a fixed fee and is valid for a year for commercial samples, and six months for on-display goods and professional equipment.He noted that the system will enhance Qatar’s status as an attractive investment

destination and as a global centre for trade and business, adding that this will stimulate the conference and tourism sector and support Qatar’s readiness to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.The Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum expressed its gratitude and appreciation to Qatar Chamber for its eff orts to bring the ATA Carnet system to Qatar. “This will streamline the participation of companies and institutions in the international conferences and fairs held outside Qatar, as well as facilitate custom procedures accompanying the import and export processes,” the museum said.The ATA Carnet Committee, which is headed by Sheikha Tamader al-Thani, the director of International Relations and Chambers’ Aff airs at Qatar Chamber, and ICC Qatar, supervises the issuance procedures for companies and institutions.

Qatar Chamber announced earlier that it is the national guarantor of the implementation of the system in the country as required by the international convention on the temporary admission of goods.The ATA Carnet system is an international customs document that allows the temporary import of goods for up to a year without the obligation to take any fees, taxes or customs procedures. The system covers all goods such as commercial samples, professional equipment, goods specific for exhibitions, markets, and entertainment events provided that they are re-exported and imported during the period approved by the relevant customs authorities.However, the system does not cover perishable and disposable goods, or those that will be subject to processing or repair.

Qatar Chamber director-general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi says businessmen and companies are interested in the ATA Carnet to allow them to participate in conferences and exhibitions held outside the country.

Qatar Index to add Mesaieed Petrochemical, Woqod and Qatar Insurance from Oct 1

By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE)

Qatar Index will find Mesaieed

Petrochemical Holding, Woqod

and Qatar Insurance in its sensi-

tive 20-stock barometer from

October 1 this year.

The three entities will replace Al

Meera Consumer Goods Com-

pany, Investment Holding Group

and Qatari Investors Group

from the index, said a bourse

spokesman.

In its semi-annual review of

the indices, the bourse also

announced that Mesaieed

Petrochemical Holding, Woqod

and Zad Holding will join QSE Al

Rayan Index. Mazaya Qatar and

Qatar Islamic Insurance will be

replaced from the index.

Qatar Cinema and Film Dis-

tribution Company will leave

both QSE All Share Index and

Consumer Goods and Services

index, the spokesman said.

Under the new index practices, a

review is carried out twice a year

to ensure that the selection and

weighting of the constituents

continues to reflect the purpose

of the index.

The main 20-stock barometer

Qatar Index will continue to

have QNB, Industries Qatar (IQ),

Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar Islamic

Bank (QIB), Ooredoo, Qatar Elec-

tricity and Water, Barwa, Nakilat,

Commercial Bank, QIIB, Milaha,

United Development Company

(UDC), Doha Bank, Gulf Interna-

tional Services, Vodafone Qatar,

Medicare Group (MCG) and

Qatar First Bank.

The other constituents of Al

Rayan Islamic Index are Masraf

Al Rayan, IQ, QIB, Barwa, Gulf

Warehousing, UDC, Vodafone

Qatar, QIG, MCG, Aamal Com-

pany, Al Meera, QIIB, Qatar First

Bank, Qatar National Cement,

Qatar Industrial Manufacturing

Company, Widam Food (former-

ly Mawashi) and Qatar Electricity

and Water Company .

The bourse has seven sectors —

banks and financial services (with

13 constituents), insurance (five),

industrials (nine), real estate

(four), telecom (two), transporta-

tion (three) and consumer goods

and services (nine) — in the ‘All

Share Index’, which comprises

listed stocks with annual share

velocity greater than 1%.

The QSE had revised its key

benchmark methodology,

stipulating that at least 80% of

the trading days and a minimum

of 5% annualised velocity during

the final quarter of the 12-month

review period.

The changes to the index meth-

odology of the QSE Index follow-

ing a decision by the QSE Index

Committee and the approval

of the Qatar Financial Markets

Authority. The decision by the

index committee is designed to

enhance the tradability of the

index and ensure that consist-

ent liquidity is a determinant of

index inclusion.

QSE nears 10,000 levels on strong buy interests

By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

Strong buying interests of

foreign funds and individuals

yesterday steered the Qatar

Stock Exchange close to 10,000

levels.

Robust demand especially at

transport and consumer goods

counters rather imparted a 0.6%

thrust to the 20-stock Qatar

Index to 9,990.17 points.

Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank

sponsored exchange traded

funds QATR and QETF saw 1.49%

and 0.76% gains respectively.

The Islamic equities were seen

gaining faster than the other

indices on the market, which re-

ported 17.21% gains year-to-date.

Trade turnover and volumes

were on the increase on the

bourse, where banking, real

estate and industrials sectors

together accounted for about

73% of the total volume.

The Total Return Index rose 0.6%

to 17,601.58 points, All Share

Index by 0.59% to 2,914.18 points

and Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price)

by 0.67% to 2,389.15 points.

The transport index gained

1.69%, consumer goods (1.67%),

industrials (0.56%), banks and

financial services (0.54%), realty

(0.29%) and telecom (0.19%);

while insurance was down

0.22%.

More than 65% of the traded

stocks extended gains with ma-

jor movers being Milaha, Nakilat,

QIIB, Masraf Al Rayan, Woqod,

Qatari Investors Group, Me-

saieed Petrochemical Holding,

Mazaya Qatar and Barwa; while

Doha Bank, Qatar Electricity and

Water and Gulf Warehousing

were among the losers.

Non-Qatari institutions’ net

buying increased considerably

to QR78.15mn compared to

QR36.38mn on September 11.

Non-Qatari individuals’ net buy-

ing strengthened perceptibly

to QR3.61mn against QR0.07mn

the previous day. The Gulf indi-

viduals turned net buyers to the

tune of QR0.38mn compared

with net sellers of QR0.13mn on

Tuesday.

The Gulf institutions’ net profit

booking declined marginally

to QR3.38mn compared to

QR4.03mn on September 11.

However, local individual inves-

tors’ net selling grew influen-

tially to QR46.91mn against

QR18.91mn the previous day.

Domestic institutions’ net profit

booking also increased signifi-

cantly to QR31.9mn compared to

QR13.35mn on Tuesday.

Total trade volume rose 45% to

7.58mn shares, value by 54% to

QR288.7mn and transactions by

38% to 4,367.

The insurance sector’s trade vol-

ume more than tripled to 0.3mn

equities and value more than

doubled to QR8.66mn on more

than doubled deals to 165.

The consumer goods sector’s

trade volume more than dou-

bled to 0.43mn stocks and value

almost tripled to QR36.17mn on

almost doubled transactions

to 341.

The telecom sector’s trade

volume more than doubled to

0.64mn shares, value grew 7%

to QR8.81mn and deals by 66%

to 284.

The real estate sector reported

64% surge in trade volume to

1.99mn equities, 97% in value to

QR36.65mn and 78% in transac-

tions to 771.

The industrials sector’s

trade volume soared 59% to

1.08mn stocks, value by 13% to

QR38.17mn and deals by 24%

to 1,039.

The banks and financial services

sector saw 41% expansion in

trade volume to 2.46mn shares,

62% in value to QR144.42mn and

41% in transactions to 1,520.

However, the transport sector’s

trade volume declined 35% to

0.7mn equities, value by 26% to

QR15.83mn and deals by 38%

to 247.

Deposits in Qatari banks from non-residents and private sector grew 6.1% and 2.2% m/m respectively in July, QNB said in its ‘Qatar Monthly Monitor – September’ released yesterday.