By Satish Kanady
DOHA: The combined net profit of listed companies in Qatar amounted to QR35.1bn as of September 2015, up 6.43 percent from a year ago.
All listed companies, except Vodafone, announced their financial statements for the first nine months of 2015. Vodafone Qatar’s financial year starts on April 1 and ends on March 31 of each year, Qatar Exchange (QE) announced yesterday.
However, a breakdown of combined profits recorded by 40 listed companies available from the bourse shows the net profit of the listed firms was up 5.21 percent to QR34.37bn.
The growth in the net profit was mainly driven the real estate and banking sectors.
The profits of real estate companies surged 134.80 percent. Barwa jumped a huge 430.68 percent during the first nine months on year-on-year. Ezdan was up 20.40 percent. The combined net profits of four listed real estate companies stood at QR5.48bn against QR2.33bn for the same period during the previous year.
The profits of the transportation sector was up 14.53 percent to QR1.84bn, with Gulf Warehousing rising the most by 31.95 percent on year-on-year. Qatar Navigation’s profit increased by 16.78 percent to QR958m.
The banks and financial services companies collectively delivered QR15.71bn, an increase of 6.30 percent compared to QR14.78bn a year ago.
Among the banks, QIB’s profit surged the most by 24.80 percent to QR1.41bn. The profits of companies under the industry sector declined 22.98 percent during the period.
MPHC’s profits plunged 42.90 percent, while Industries Qatar declined 28.38 percent. Profits of insurance companies decreased by 13.38 percent. Doha Insurance tumbled 26.16 percent.
Profits of Qatari listed companies witnessed a growth of 12.5 percent during the first six months of 2015, driven by increases in the banking and financial, transportation and the real estate sectors.
However, profit growth during the quarter was slower at 3.0 percent for the same period in 2014, the London-listed Qatar Investment Fund (QIF) said in a note sent to this daily on Wednesday.
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The Peninsula
