(The Group’s Comments) QEWC’s Net Profit Drops to QAR 620 Million for the First Half of 2019

July 22, 2019

Profits: Qatar Electricity & Water Company’s (QEWC) net profits for the first half of 2019 decreased by 23.8% to QAR 619.5 million, compared to QAR 812.6 million for last year’s first half. The company’s earnings per share amounted to QAR 0.56 versus QAR 0.74 riyals for the corresponding period of 2018. It should be noted that QEWC’s second quarter profits have also dropped by 25.6% to settle at QAR 310.9 million, compared to QAR 418.2 million for the second quarter of 2018.

Revenues: decreased by 15.6% or QAR 199 million to QAR 1,077 million, as electricity revenues decreased by 27.0% to QAR 174.7 million, while water revenues dropped by 3.8% and QAR 23.8 million.

Revenue Costs: despite the decline in revenues as mentioned above, revenue costs increased by 3.5% and by approximately QAR 24 million, which led to a decrease in gross profit from QAR 651 million to QAR 426.5 million. Revenues to revenue cost ratio stood at 66.6% compared to 54.3% for the same period of 2018.

Financing Expenses: climbed to QAR 130.4 million in the first half of 2019, compared to QAR 102.5 million for the same period of 2018, an increase of 27% despite the decrease in loans ever so slightly.

Comprehensive Income: QEWC posted an impairment loss of QAR 844.7 million for the first half of 2019, compared to profits of about QAR 686.9 million for the same period of 2018. Most of the recorded losses (QAR 709.7 million) represent the company's share of joint venture losses, in companies such as Qatar Energy, Nebras Power and Umm Al Houl Power.