DOHA: The net profit of the listed companies in the industrial sector rose 10 percent in 2012. The sector’s net profit grew from QR11bn in 2011 to QR12.1bn on year-on-year. However, the growth accelerated in Q4 2012 to 18.8 percent compared to Q42011, the quarterly investment report of Qatar Investment Fund (QIF) noted yesterday.
The industrial sector’s growth was mainly driven by a rise in earnings reported by sector heavyweights such as Industries Qatar and Qatar Electricity & Water Company. The contribution of the industrial sector’s profit to the total Qatar market’s profit increased from 28.6 percent in 2011 to 31.9 percent in 2012, being the second largest after the Banking and Financial Services sector, which accounted for 42.9 percent.
The profitability of the insurance sector improved in 2012, with the sector’s aggregate net profit increasing 4.9 percent compared to 2011. Net earnings increased from QR 0.9bn in 2011 to QR1bn in 2012, representing 2.6 percent of the aggregate profits of the market. Of the five companies listed under the Insurance sector, four companies reported higher net profits, while the one remaining company reported a decline in earnings.
The Insurance sector heavyweight by profit, Qatar Insurance Company, reported a 3.1 percent rise in net profit to QR0.61bn for 2012 and contributed almost 62.1 percent of the sector’s total net profit.
According to the QIF report, the telecom sector reported a 13.0 percent rise in net profit for the 12 months of 2012 to QR2.9bn(Vodafone Qatar has been excluded from this profits comparison, since its fiscal year ends on March 31). For Q4 2012, Qatar Telecom reported a 14.6 percent growth in net profit compared to Q42011, to QR0.5bn.
In 2012, the transportation sector contributed 4.4 percent to the Qatar market’s profits and reported a 5.0 percent growth in net profit to QR1.7bn, with two out of three companies reporting higher earnings. The largest company by net profit in the sector, Qatar Navigation, registered a 17.5 percent growth in net profit to QR0.8bn for 2012. During the same period, Gulf Warehousing Company’s net profit increased 37.6 percent to QR84.9m. Qatar Gas and transport Company (Nakilat) reported an 8.1 percent drop in net earnings to QR765.5m during the same period.
Real Estate was the worst performer in 2012, with net profit plunging 56.8 percent compared to the previous year, to QR2.4bn from QR5.5bn. The fall in net profit can be attributable to a significant decline in net earnings reported by United Development Company (net profit down 80.1 percent) and Barwa Real Estate (net profit down 17.3 percent). However, the sharp fall in net profit of United Development Company was largely due to a prior year revaluation gain on investment properties amounting to QR3.06bn, reported during 2011.
Excluding this revaluation gain United Development Company’s net profit should have grown 17.8 percent compared to 2011 and the sector as a whole would have declined by only 2.4 percent. The real estate sector contributed 6.2 percent of the Qatar market total profits in 2012, lower than 14.2 percent reported in 2011.
The Peninsula
