By Satish Kanady
DOHA: The combined net profits of Qatar’s publicly traded firms stood at QR10.8bn for the first quarter of this year (Q1, 16), down 18.9 percent over the same period of 2015.
The net earnings are of 42 of 43 companies listed on Qatar Exchange (QE), as Vodafone Qatar’s financial year is from April 1 to March 31.
Of the seven sectors the listed entities are grouped into, real estate showed a massive fall of 62.54 percent. Net earnings of the real estate companies were over QR1.5bn, down from QR4.06bn recorded during the first quarter of 2015.
While Industries sector tumbled by 18.59 percent, insurance sector declined by 5.10 percent. Service and consumers sector was down by 3.2 percent, while banking sector edged 1.55 percent up.
KPMG in its latest report on Qatar’s listed banks’ performance, noted the banking sector assets increased by 114 percent, from $267.2bn in 2014 to $297.7bn in 2015, driven by a growth in corporate lending and increase in investments.
The market is dominated by QNB, which had a market share of 49.6 percent of total listed banking assets at the end of 2015, while Islamic banks’ have a combined market share of 23.1 percent.
On the banking sector’s outlook, KPMG noted the focus on innovation and efficiency will increase as banks look to differentiate themselves in a competitive market, given the income pressure being faced, and increasing regulatory requirements.The Peninsula
