The Group Securities: Weekly Report on QSE Performance, 09-13 July 2017

The fact that Qatar emerged victorious from the blockade crisis, after the failure of the blockading countries to take any further escalating measures against Qatar, had positive impact on Qatar Stock Exchange. Trading refreshed and the prices of most of the key stocks increased remarkably; namely those of Qatar investors, QNB, and Al Mannai. No company's share price declined. Hence, indices increased, including general index which gained 547 points, or 6.13% to the level of 9470 points. Total capitalization increased by QR 31 billion. The Group reviews QSE performance in this week with illustrative charts combined with corporate business news, and a list of the affecting economic factors.

Corporate News

1-- Islamic Holding Group's income remained steady at 5.28 million in the first half of 2017, with no significant change compared to last year. The company posted profit of QR 3.91 million from brokerage and commissions, compared to QR 4.58 million in the same period last year. Profit from deposits increased to QR1.3 million.  Expenses increased by 3.7% to QR 4.5 million. Consequently, net profit dropped by 19.3% to QR 769.8 thousand. There was a decline in the fair value worth QR 482.5 thousand, which reduced the comprehensive income to 287.3 thousand.

2-- QNB's operational income declined by 3.8% to QR11.13 billion in the first half of 2017, including QR 8.6 billion as interests and QR1.78 billion as commission fees. Total expenses dropped by 17.4% to QR 3.93 billion, including QR1.67 billion for staffing. As result, net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 6.5% to QR 6654 million.  There was a limited change in the fair value of investment, with a loss worth QR 512.7 million, compared to QR 2427.3 million in the same period last year. Hence, comprehensive income increased by 58.8% to QR6 billion compared to QR 3.8 billion.

3-- Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has announced that the international credit rating agency Moody's has affirmed QIIB's rating for the second consecutive year at A2, which is a sign of strength of the bank's financial position. Moody’s decision to affirm the ratings of QIIB reflects the resilience in the bank’s financial performance underpinned by continued strong asset quality and capital buffers

4-- Ooredoo announces that Moody’s Investor Service has affirmed the A2 long-term issuer rating of Ooredoo Q.S.P.C. (Ooredoo. Moody’s stated that the affirmation of the A2 ratings with a stable outlook reflects Ooredoo's robust standalone credit profile with around 70% of EBITDA generated outside of Qatar in 2016. Moodys also noted that Ooredoo's credit profile continues to benefit from the support and rating uplift offered by the Government of Qatar, which owns 68.6% of the company through direct and indirect holdings.

5-- Barwa Real Estate Group has announced the signing of the leasing contract for its project; Mustawdaat in Umm Shahrain area, with Mohammed Hayil Group for Trading and Contracting WLL. The contract is for a period of 10 years and a half starting from the first of October 2017, with a total rental value of QR 755 million over the duration of the contract. The Tenant shall operate, maintain and lease the project during the contract term.

Economic Developments

1-- Banks consolidated balance sheet for May has been released. The data shows a rise in total assets by about QR 5.4 billion to stand at QR 1313.5 billion.  The total domestic public debt, including bonds, decreased by about QR 6.8 billion to QR 457.6 billion, while the total domestic private sector deposits increased by QR 2.5 billion to the level of QR 441.6 billion.

2-- OPEC oil prices decreased again and settled at the level of 46.66 dollars by the end of week, down by 0.86 dollars.

3-- Last week, Dow Jones index gained 224 points to reach the level of 21638 points. US Dollar exchange rate decreased to the level of 112.54 yen, and $ 1.15 per Euro. Gold price decreased by 16 dollars to the level of $ 1228 per ounce.