BUSINESSWednesday 16 May 2018

PAGE | 23PAGE | 22Investcorp launches

new strategy in German healthcare sector

Qatar blue-chip firms hold meetings with fund managers in UK

Qatar & UK sign MoU for cybersecurity cooperationMOHAMMAD SHOEB THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar and the United Kingdom signed yesterday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of cyber security.

The MoU was inked between Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and the UK’s Department for International Trade Defense and Security Organisation (DIT DSO).

The documents of the MoU were signed by H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani, the Governor of QCB, and the British Ambassador to Qatar Ajay Sharma on behalf of DIT DSO, at QCB’s main building in Doha.

Based on the MoU, with a view to strengthening the bilateral cooperation in cyber-security, both the institutions

will coordinate with each other to find the best ways to protect information, as well as to

encourage partnership with Qatari institutions.

No further details were

provided to the media about the MoU from either side of the signatories.

H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani (right), QCB Governor, with Ajay Sharma, British Ambassador to Qatar, during the signing ceremony, yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

Sheikh Dr Khalid opens QIIB City Center branchTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: QIIB Chairman and Managing Director Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani inaugurated the bank’s new branch at the City Center, Doha, yesterday. The event was attended by the bank Board members, Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibei, senior QIIB executives and other dignitaries.

Following the opening cer-emony, Sheikh Dr. Khalid toured the facility, interacted with the employees and made sure the brand-new branch is delivering quality services to the customers.

The new branch is located on the ground floor of the City Center, which is among the oldest, most important and popular shopping destinations in the State of Qatar, frequented by all sections of the society.

At the City Center branch, QIIB customers will have greater choices in terms of banking products and services and a range of Islamic banking services that have already sat-isfied thousands of customers.

Commenting the occasion, QIIB Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibei said, “We are now at an advanced stage of our strategy of restructuring our nationwide branch network in the light of market developments and cus-tomer preferences. Our presence in popular shopping malls across Qatar is in line with this.

“Today, we are inaugurating the QIIB’s 19th branch at the City

Center, after the opening of our branches at the Ezdan Mall, Mall of Qatar and the Doha Festival City. We will continue to expand and open other branches at The Mall in Al Hilal and at the Ezdan Mall in Al Wakrah in due course”.

Shopping malls are very vibrant these days with a con-stant influx of visitors, all throughout the day. They extend various services and attract various segments of the society.

“Therefore, we believe that our presence at leading shopping malls will add greater value to customers”, Dr Al Shaibei added.

“The QIIB branch at the City

Center is located in a prime area – the Towers Zone - where a large segment of customers live and work. Through this new branch, we get closer to many customers who can reach us faster, with the possibility of per-forming other tasks at the City Center,” Dr Al Shaibei noted.

“We expect an increasing demand for services at the City Center branch, and our employees shall be able to meet the needs of various customer categories. As for the internal design chosen for the branch, we were keen to reflect modernity as well as a contemporary style,

while embracing the ancient Islamic art- a design we are committed to implement in all our new branches”.

Dr Al Shaibei noted that the expansion of the QIIB branch network would be in tandem with alternate electronic channels, which has been the trend in banking, globally.

The QIIB Branch at the City Center Doha will be open Sat-urday through Thursday, in two shifts- morning from 9am to 2.30pm and evening from 3.30 pm to 9 pm.

On Fridays, the branch will operate from 4 pm to 9 pm.

Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani (third left), Chairman and Managing Director of QIIB; Dr Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibei (third right), CEO of QIIB; and Jamal Abdallah Al Jamal (left), QIIB’s Deputy CEO cutting the celebration cake with other officials during the opening of QIIB new branch at City Center yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Sukuk issuance: QIIB weighs market moodSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s Islamic lender QIIB said yesterday it is waiting for the ‘right time’ to issue its $500m sukuk in the interna-tional market. The bank’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibei (pictured) said that QIIB is currently weighing market condition before the issuance of the 5-year sukuk.

“We were recently in some of the Asian markets, just to test the market conditions. The feedback was very positive. But we decided to wait. Because the interest rate environment in the market at present is a bit con-fusing”, he told The Peninsula on the sidelines of an event held yesterday.

Currently, QIIB sees a huge flow of sukuks to the interna-tional market. Many conven-tional bonds are also coming to the market. “We do not want to go into the middle of this ‘mess’”. He said the potential investors are waiting for the right market moment. The bank is also getting advice regarding the timing of the issuance. “When the investors are ready for us, we will go to the market.”

In fact, Dr Al Shaibei said, QIIB is not in a hurry to hit the market. “As of now, we do not face any kind of liquidity issues.

Our first sukuk was matured in October , means our presence is currently missing in the inter-national debt market. We just want to make our presence in the market”, he said.

The lead arrangers of QIIB issuance are QNB, Standard Chartered and some Malaysian Banks. The tenor would be 5 year.

QIIB issued its first sukuk in 2012 for $700 and it was matured in October 2017. The bank’s $2bn Trust Certificate Issuance programme has already been approved by the the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) and is being admitted to the official list of the FCA and the London Stock Exchange. The Programme has been assigned a provisional rating of A2 by Moody’s Investors Service Cyprus .

EU has failed to stop illegal Airbus subsidies: WTOAFP

GENEVA: The European Union has failed to remove its illegal subsidies for Airbus, the World Trade Organization said yesterday, in a major victory for the United States and its national aviation giant, Boeing.

The decision by the appellate division of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body is not subject to appeal and clears the way for the US to seek billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs against European exports. The decision marks a milestone in a case that has dragged on for more than a decade.

Boeing said the victory secured on its behalf by the US trade office could see the EU slapped with “the largest-ever WTO authorisation of retaliatory tariffs”. In a statement, the Chi-cago-based firm said those tariffs

could amount to $22bn, equiv-alent to the amount in illegal sub-sidies that Airbus has received from the EU, according to Boe-ing’s tally. “Today’s final ruling sends a clear message: disregard for the rules and illegal subsidies are not tolerated,” Boeing said.

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which represents Wash-ington at the WTO, called the decision “an important victory” for President Donald Trump’s administration.

The EU also sought to portray itself as a victor of sorts following yesterday’s ruling.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom pointed out that the ruling dismissed several US claims regarding the damage suffered by Boeing, noting this could impact the level of retaliation approved by the WTO.

22 WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2018BUSINESS

8,922.00 -12.39 PTS0.14%

QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,722.98 +12.00 PTS0.16%

24,651.49 -247.92 PTS1.00% Dow & Brent before going to press

$71.20 +0.24

MarketWatchQMIC & Sagemcom partner to

deliver IoT solutions globallyTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Mobility Innova-tions Center (QMIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with International French-based technology provider Sagemcom. This MoU sets forth an elabo-rative framework of co-oper-ation between the two entities to deliver comprehensive IoT solutions on a global scale, take advantage of QMIC’s compre-hensive Labeeb IoT platform across multiple domains, and utilize Sagemcom extensive Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) IoT portfolio of LoRaWAN solutions, branded under SICONIA such as multi-sensors devices, Gateways, network server, and Geolocation solver, to name a few.

Through a combination of efforts that will leverage the technical strength and business outreach of both parties, the technologies and solutions pro-duced as a result of this part-nership will be delivered glo-bally with a focus on the Mena and Eastern European regions. A key aspect of this agreement will be the utilization of QMIC’s comprehensive Labeeb IoT platform and other IoT vertical solutions across various domains and sector like trans-portation, asset management, tracking, smart cities, and others. This comes hand-in-hand with the benefits and addi-tional value provided by Sagem-com’s wide array of Carrier Class IoT solutions.

QMIC has been deeply involved in shaping the local and regional IoT market over the past years. Due to its expertise across different sectors and

fields. Labeeb IoT, in specific, serves as an innovative IoT platform for entrepreneurs, enterprises and cities, the first of its kind in the Middle East. It already delivers several appli-cations targeting Smart Cities and Industrial IoT segments.

Sagemcom is an innovative and well-recognized interna-tional leader in the industrial Smart City, and Smart Nation market, thanks to its combi-nation of Smart Metering, Smart Infrastructure solutions, and its full end-to-end IoT Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) products portfolio, ranging from infrastructure solutions, such as Carrier-Grade Gateways enabled for Geolocation, LoRa Network Server (LNS), Geolo-cation Solver, in addition to small and cost efficient Multi-usage IoT devices.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, Executive Director (CEO) of QMIC, and Eric Rieul, CEO of Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS.

Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya com-mented “QMIC was founded

with the goal of using digital innovations to enable smart living. Establishing partnerships with key global entities like Sagemcom is a critical step towards achieving our goal at global scale. As the first pure-play IoT technology enterprise in the MENA region, we look forward to combining our knowledge and leading digital platforms with Sagemcom’s innovative products to deliver end-to-end IoT solutions that can address pressing challenges and problems in different market domains.”

“This promising collabo-ration reinforces Sagemcom’s vision and strategy of the LPWAN IoT for addressing MENA region, enabling fast, flexible and cost efficient deployments on many different industrial market verticals. Tightening partnership with such well recognized institution as QMIC is part of our strategy for strengthening our footprint in Middle-east, by listening and adapting to the local needs.” said Eric Rieu..

Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya (left), Executive Director (CEO) of QMIC and Eric Rieul, CEO of Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has announced that 16 of its branches will have extended working hours during the blessed month of Ramadan.

Regular QIB branches will open Sunday through Thursday from 9 am to 2pm. In addition, Al-Fanar, Salwa Road, Al Rayyan, Airport Road, Al Sadd, Al Wakra, Al Khor branches and C-Ring Service Center will open during the evening shift Sunday to Wednesday from 9pm pm to 11.30pm and on Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm. Hamad International Airport branch will remain open non-stop around the clock to serve its customers.

QIB mall branches will operate Saturday to Thursday from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm and from 9 pm to 11.30 pm; and on Friday from 9 pm to 11.30 pm. This includes QIB’s Dar Al Salam Mall branch,Doha Festival City branch, Al Gharrafa branch (Q-Mall), City Centre branch, Mall of Qatar branch, The Gate Mallbranch, Tawar Mall, and The Pearl branch (Medina Centrale).

T h e e x t e n d e d working hours will provide QIB customers with an easily accessible and convenient banking experience throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

Digital innovation makes doing business faster, simpler and better: HSBCTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: New technology makes doing business across interna-tional borders faster, simpler and more secure, with real-time tracking of trade finance transactions helping improve corporate cash management, HSBC told customers at a digital workshop in Qatar.

Demonstrating its digital platform and capabilities to nearly 200 customers at a Global Trade and Receivable Finance Academy, customers were able to download the Trade Tracker Mobile App on the spot to give them real-time tracking and end-to-end views of transactions globally.

HSBC has invested approx-imately $6bn globally in tech-nology in recent years, accel-erating transaction times and giving customers more flexi-bility when using the Bank’s services. Globally, 1.2 million HSBC customer transactions were processed end-to-end by robots in 2017.

Elie Maroun El Asmar (pic-tured), Head of Commercial Banking in Qatar said: “We put our customers at the centre of the process re-engineering and product development. That way

we deliver market-leading capabilities that have a direct value to our customers.”

Payments have been a key focus of HSBC’s digital offering to address customer requests for faster, easier and more seamless cashless services. HSBC net, the web-based trans-action and information system, gives customers a single point of access to all their domestic and international business accounts. The HSBC net mobile app uses Face & Touch ID to make it faster, easier and more secure.

The efficiencies of using digital platforms can also support corporate environ-mental objectives by using fewer printed documents, resulting in sustainability savings.

Investcorp launches buy-and-build strategy in German healthcare sector

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Investcorp, a leading global provider and manager of alternative investments, yesterday announces that it has established a platform to enter the highly fragmented German dental sector.

As its initial investment, Investcorp has acquired Privat-zahnarztklinik Schloss Schel-lenstein GmbH (PSS), one of the leading centres forimplantology and dental surgery, which attracts both domestic and international patients and is based in North Rhine-West-phalia, Germany.

PSS employs around 40 people including dentists,

dental nurses and technicians and is led by Professor Dr. Fouad Khoury. The deal follows Investcorp’s recent acquisition of Acura Kliniken, a licensed hospital in Albstadt, Germany.

Following the acquisition of PSS, the platformintends to make further investments in the highly-fragmented German dental market as part of a wider consolidation strategy. With a 30-year track record of building and growing quality businesses, a key tenet of the strategy is a commitment by Investcorp to fund future investment in accessible and qualitycare delivered across the dental market across Germany.

Commenting on the investment, Johannes Glas (pic-tured), Managing Director at Investcorp in Qatar, said: “Investcorp has a long history and an established track record of identifying growth opportu-nities, like PSS and Acura KlinikenAlbstadt. Through these acquisitions, and with a solid buy-and-build strategy in place, we believe we are well positioned to build a sizeable dental business in Germany.”

QIB announces working hours during Ramadan

CPI inflation edges down in April 2018THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s inflation, based on consumer price index (CPI) of April, 2018 reached 108.52 (base year is 2013), showing a decrease of 0.4 percent, when compared to CPI of March, 2018. Compared to CPI of April, 2017, year-on-year basis (y-o-y) of 0.1 percent increase has been recorded in the general index (CPI) of this month.

A month-on-month basis (m-o-m) analysis of CPI for April, 2018 compared with March, 2018 CPI, shows that there are five main groups, where respective indices in this month have decreased.

Official data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) show that that there was a decrease on “food

and beverages” and “recreation and culture” by 1.4 percent each, “transport” by 0.8 percent.

An increase was shown on “furniture and household equipment” by 0.2 percent, and “communication” by 0.1 percent. As well as an increase on “restau-rants and hotels” by 0.5 percent, and “miscellaneous goods and services” by 0.3 percent. “tobacco”, “clothing and footwear”, “housing, water, elec-tricity and gas”, “health”, and “education” groups, have remained flat at the last months price level.

A comparison of the CPI, April 2018 with the CPI, April 2017 (annual change), an increase has been recorded in the general index (CPI), by 0.1 percent. This y-o-y price increase is primarily

due to the increasing prices seen in the eight groups, namely: “transport” by 5.4 percent, “health” by 3.4 percent, “clothing and footwear” by 2.5 percent “food and beverages” by 2.1 percent. “Education” by 0.9 percent, “furniture and household equipment” by 0.8 percent, “restaurants and hotels” and “miscellaneous goods and services” by 0.7 percent each.

Also there has been a decrease in price levels in four groups, namely: “housing, water, electricity and other fuel” by 4.6 percent, “recreation and culture” by 2.4 percent, “communication” by 1.0 percent. For the month of April 2018, “housing, water, elec-tricity and other fuel” had the highest negative contribution by -1000.0 percent in the annual

change of CPI, followed by “com-munication”, which contributed positively, by 900.0 percent, “recreation and culture” con-tributed negatively, by -300.0 percent, “food and beverages” contributed positively by 200.0 percent, since its price increased by 2.1 percent compared with April 2017. “Clothing and footwear”, “furniture and household equipment”, “health”, and “education” contributed pos-itively by 100.0 percent each.

The CPI of April, 2018 excluding “housing, water, elec-tricity and other fuel” group stands at 108.57 showing a decrease of 0.6 percent when compared to the index of March 2018, and a 1.5 percent increase when compared to the CPI of April 2017.

Mexico says Nafta deal unlikely this week; signing possible this yearREUTERS

MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s economy minister said yesterday that he saw diminishing chances for a new North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of a May 17 deadline to present a deal that could be signed by the current US Congress.

US House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that the Republican-controlled Congress would need to be notified of a new Nafta deal

by Thursday to give lawmakers a chance of approving it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January.

“It is not easy, we do not think we will have it by Thursday,” Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told broadcaster Televisa.

“We will keep negotiating, and in the moment that we have a good negotiation, we can close the deal... independent of which Congress (the current or new)

that will vote on it,” he said.Negotiators from the United

States, Mexico and Canada have been in intense talks since last month to try to reach a deal before upcoming US congres-sional elections. Mexico’s presi-dential vote on July 1 also com-plicates talks.

Uncertainty over the future of Nafta and the election has put pressure on the Mexican peso, Guajardo said.

Mexico’s peso sank to its

weakest level in over a year yes-terday and the country’s benchmark stock index fell about 1 percent to its lowest since early April.

“There are different moments to close the negoti-ation,” Guajardo said. “It could be before the Mexican election on July 1, it could be just after.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Donald Trump on Monday dis-cussed the possibility of bringing

Nafta talks to a “prompt con-clusion.” Guajardo said negoti-ators were getting close to reaching a deal on rules for the auto sector under Nafta.

However, talks still faced the hurdles of US demands for a sunset clause that would allow Nafta to expire if it is not rene-gotiated every five years, and the elimination of settlement panels for trade disputes.

More flexibility was needed for a deal, Guajardo said.

Kenneth Smith, the chief Mexican negotiator at the talks, said that for Mexico there were no deadlines in the revamp.

“Mexico’s position since the start of the negotiation has been that we’re not going to sacrifice the quality of the deal to con-clude quickly,” he told local radio.

Irrespective of the May 17 date mentioned by Ryan, there was still time to ratify a new Nafta this year, Smith added.

Ecuador replaces finance ministerAFP

QUITO: Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno on Monday replaced the country’s finance minister for the second time in as many months, amid economic woes that have prompted major cuts to the state apparatus.

The president, who on May 24 will have completed his first of four years in office, named business leader Richard Mar-tinez (pictured) as economy and finance minister, the ministry of communications said.

Martinez, an economist who s i n c e 2 0 1 5 h a s

led the Ecuadorean Business Committee, will replace Maria Elsa Viteri, who assumed the position early March.

“My goal and that of my team is to guarantee the sustainability of public finances and promote economic growth to generate jobs,” Martinez said on Twitter.

23WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2018 BUSINESS

Qatar blue-chip firms hold meetings with fund managers in UKSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Eight top QSE-listed companies have met with a number of international fund managers and investment decision makers in London, as part of an ‘investor relations’ event.

The two-day event, jointly organised by Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Deutsche Bank and QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), covered a combination of one-to-one and group meetings and was the first undertaken since the intro-duction of the new MiFID regime. Listed companies met with market-leading institutions that represented the most important funds allocating money to Qatar,

the GCC and the broader emerging markets.

While Qatar Stock Exchange has been a member of key global indices, such as MSCI and FTSE Russell, since 2014 it continues to place emphasis on the impor-tance of an ongoing improvement in transparency and ease of access for foreign investors. The London meetings with the fund managers come in the wake of a number of key listed companies increasing their foreign ownership limit (FOL) to 49 percent.

Rashid al Mansoori (pic-tured), CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), who led the del-egation said: “We are pleased to once again be working with Deutsche Bank and QNBFS in showcasing some of our leading

companies. We believe devel-oping a diversified investor base, including domestic institutions and a range of international institutional investors with dif-ferent investment horizons and perspectives, is central to the development of our equity markets and hence our ongoing

commitment to events such as these.” “Despite challenges we believe the macro picture for Qatar remains resilient with the market experts forecasting increased GDP forecasts for 2018 taking into account the impact of increased forecast oil prices; an expectation of a sharper rebound in hydrocarbon output and an expectation of a reduced economic impact of the blockade on 2018 GDP. In addition in the longer term, Qatar’s economy should benefit from a number of recent measures including increased investment in new projects related to the expansion of LNG production and projects aimed at ensuring self-suffi-ciency and sustainability,” Al-Mansoori added.

In addition to the listed

company meetings Qatar Stock Exchange has also taken the opportunity to continue its ongoing dialogue with stake-holders in the market including international brokers and fund managers.

Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Director, Listing Department said “We acknowledge the commitment of our companies in attending such events as their investor relations’ efforts complement the work being done at a more macro-level in continuing to improve market infrastructure.” “In turn we believe the commitment of investors to our market is evidenced by the rally in Qatar, with the Qatar All-Share Index up by 12 percent to May 1, after QNB Group, Industries Qatar, Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar Elec-tricity & Water announced an

increase in their foreign ownership limits”, he said.

QNB Financial Services in recent research estimated that the decision to increase the FOL cap will result in attracting an esti-mated QR7bn (US$2bn) in passive funds into these QSE-listed companies.

Eight listed corporates, rep-resenting blue-chip investment opportunities in the Qatari market, used the opportunity to meet with the world’s leading fund managers. The Qatari com-panies participating were: Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, Com-mercial Bank of Qatar, Masraf Al Rayan, Ooredoo, Industries Qatar (also covering Gulf International and Mesaieed), Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar Electricity and Water Company.

US retail spending slows in AprilAFP

WASHINGTON: Retail spending in the world’s largest economy slowed sharply in April, retreating from March’s booming pace, but still grew at a healthy rate, according to government data released yesterday.

The solid result could con-tribute to a rebound in GDP growth in the second quarter of

the year, especially after sales figures for March were better than initially reported.

Retail spending rose 0.3 percent for the month, reaching $497.6bn, matching economists’ expectations but much slower than March’s 0.8 percent jump, according to the Commerce Department. Sales remain a healthy 4.7 percent stronger than the same month last year.

IMF urges swift debt relief deal for GreeceAFP

BRUSSELS: The IMF yesterday called for a quick deal on debt relief for Greece, warning that otherwise it could be too late to disburse funds to the country’s latest aid programme.

“We have this programme that need to be activated and clearly time is running out,” International Monetary Fund Europe Department Head Poul Thomsen told AFP.

“The European programme

is coming to an end in August. So if the IMF programme needs to be activated, it has to be really very soon,” said Thomsen, a veteran of almost a decade of Greek bailout dramas.

The IMF agreed last year in principle to join Greece’s massive bailout, its third since 2010, but said any payouts depended on the eurozone coming up with a full debt relief plan. The failure of the eurozone to win over the IMF would also jolt the markets, and spark

worry about the ability of Europe to handle its debt problem.

“We have an agreement with Greece on policies. We still need to be sure that agreement is supported by adequate debt measures, debt relief,” Thomsen said.

“There are number of issues still outstanding that we are trying to solve in the coming days,” he said.

Powerful Germany, Greece’s biggest creditor, is extremely reluctant to pare down the Greek

debt pile and will demand that Athens meet strict targets even after the bailout ends in August as a condition.

Thomsen welcomed France’s proposal that debt relief be tied to economic growth, where Greece would see its debt rates automatically reduced in tough times and set higher in the good ones.

“It’s a promising proposal. One needs to discuss the details but I think it’s a good proposal,” Thomsen said.

QE Index 8,922.00 0.14 %

QE Total Return Index 15,719.57 0.14 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,202.97 0.68 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,574.37 0.68 %

QE All Share Index 2,621.45 0.07 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 3,118.64 1.63 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,005.62 1.71 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,748.48 1.35 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,704.60 0.91 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,015.54 2.76 %

QE All Share Telecoms 959.37 2.98 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 5,717.37 0.91 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

15-05-2018Index 8,922.00

Change 12.39

% 0.14

YTD% 4.68

Volume 11,385,930

Value (QAR) 503,330,901.65

Trades 6,143

Up 13 | Down 25 | Unchanged 0214-05-2018Index 8,934.39

Change 117.55

% 1.33

YTD% 4.82

Volume 7,519,648

Value (QAR) 399,656,882.28

Trades 3,743

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR153.4596 per grammeSILVER QR1.9529 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

All Ordinaries 6198.7 -36.3 -0.58 6256.5 5834

Cac 40 Index/D 5546.05 5.37 0.1 5567.03 5038.12

Dj Indu Average 24899.41 68.24 0.27 26616.71 20553.45

Hang Seng Inde/D 31152.03 -389.05 -1.23 33484.08 29129.26

Iseq Overall/D 7036.57 26.09 0.37 7257.41 6410.26

Kse 100 Inx/D 42459.53 -39.33 -0.09 47144.12 40169.62

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 2872.87 2532.69

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 4.8953 QR 4.9644

Euro QR 4.3027 QR 4.3636

CA$ QR 2.8285 QR 2.8845

Swiss Fr QR 3.6135 QR 3.6656

Yen QR 0.03284 QR 0.03348

Aus$ QR 2.7050 QR 2.7582

Ind Re QR 0.0530 QR 0.0540

Pak Re QR 0.0311 QR 0.0318

Peso QR 0.0686 QR 0.0700

SL Re QR 0.0228 QR 0.0233

Taka QR 0.0425 QR 0.0437

Nep Re QR 0.0331 QR 0.0338

SA Rand QR 0.2886 QR 0.2943

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

24 WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2018BUSINESS

BREAK TIMEVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERCROSSWORD NOVO Pearl Qatar

MALL

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

LANDMARK

ROXY

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

Life Of The Party 10:20am, 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 9:10 & 11:30pm Avengers: Infinity War(2D/Action) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00&11:00pm Rampage (2D/Action) 11:00am, 3:20, 7:40pm & 12:00midnight I Feel Pretty (2D/Comedy) 1:10, 5:30 & 9:50pm Terminal (2D) 11:00am, 3:00, 7:00 & 11:00pm Overboard (2D/Comedy) 12:50, 4:50 & 8:50pm You Were Never Really Here (2D) 10:00, 2:00, 6:05 & 10:10pm Bad Samaritan (2D) 11:50am, 3:55, 8:00pm & 12:00midnight Horoub Moufajee (2D/Arabic) 10:30am, 2:20, 6:10 & 10:10pm Qosty Byogaani (2D) 12:20, 4:10, 8:00pm & 12:00midnight Isle of Dogs (2D) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:20 & 4:00pm Bent (2D) 1:15, 5:15, 6:00, 8:00, 9:15, 10:00 & 11:55pm Breaking In (2D) 11:15am, 1:00, 3:00, 3:15, 5:00, 7:15, 10:00, 11:15 & 11:55pm Avengers: Infinity War (2D) 10:15am & 7:00pm Avengers: Infinity War(3D/IMAX) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00&11:50pm

Raazi (2D/Hindi) 11:30am, 2:00, 9:00 & 11:30pmIsle of Dogs (2D/Animation) 12:00noon & 2:00pm Kammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 12:00noon, 3:00 & 8:45pm Life of The Party (2D/Comedy) 4:00 & 7:45pm Avengers: Infinity War (2D/Action) 6:00pm Peter Rabbit 4:30pm Terminal (2D/Thriller) 6:00pm Irumbu Thirai (Tamil) 6:15 & 11:45pm Bad Samaritan (2D/Thriller) 9:45pm Bent (2D/Action) 11:45pm

ROYAL PLAZA

Kammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 2:15 & 10:30pm Raazi (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 9:00pm Isle of Dogs (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pm Horoub Mofajee (Arabic) 4:45pmLife Of The Party (2D/Comedy) 5:15 & 7:15pm Breaking In (2D/Thriller) 6:15pm Irumbu Thirai (Tamil) 7:45 & 10:30pm Bad Samaritan (2D/Thriller) 8:30pm You Were Never Really Here (2D/Thriller) 11:30pm

Kammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 5:45 & 11:30pm Isle Of Dogs (2D/Animation) 2:00pm Qosty Byogaani 3:45pmMy Pure Land (2D) 4:15pm Bent (2D/Action) 6:00pm Raazi (2D/Hindi) 5:00 & 11:30pm You Were Never Really Here (Thriller) 7:30pm Avengers: Infinity War (2D/Action) 8:45pm Life Of The Party (2D/Comedy) 9:30pm Breaking In (2D/Thriller) 7:45pm Terminal (2D/Thriller) 9:30pm Irumbu Thirai (Tamil) 11:15pm

Kammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 7:00, 8:00, 10:00, 11:00pm Swathan Thryam (2D/Malayalam) 9:15pm & 12:00midnight Raazi (Hindi) 6:30pm Irumbu Thirai (Tamil) 7:00pm Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2D/Tamil) 4:00pm

Avengers: Infinity War (Action) 11:00am, 5:15 & 11:30pm Life Of The Party (Comedy) 12:15, 5:45 & 11:15pm Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2D/Tamil) 12:30, 6:15pm & 12:00midnightKammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 8:15pmIrumbu Thirai (2D/Tamil) 2:30 & 8:00pm Raazi (Hindi) 3:30 & 9:15pm

Avengers: Infinity War (2D/Action) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30 & 10:30pm Life Of The Party (Comedy) 10:30am, 12:45, 6:00, 8:15 & 10:30pm Raazi (Hindi) 10:30am, 6:15 & 10:00pm Kammara Sambhavam (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 1:20, 4:20 & 7:20pm Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2D/Tamil) 1:15, 7:00 & 10:20pm

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

FLIK Mirqab

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Avenger: Infinity War 10:40am, 11:45am, 12:30, 1:45, 2:40, 3:25, 4:40, 5:35, 6:20, 7:35, 8:30, 9:15, 11:25pm & 12:10am Isle Dogs 10:25am, 4:00 & 7:00pm Bad Samaritan 3:50, 9:05, 11:20pm & 12:05am Breaking In 10:35am, 12:30, 2:25, 6:35, 8:30, 10:25pm & 12:20am Incredible Story of The Giant Pear 11:45am, 2:15 & 5:15pm Kammara 11:50am, 3:15, 6:40, 7:50, 10:05 & 11:45pm Life of The Party 11:20am, 1:35 & 7:50pm Masha And The Bear 12:30, 3:30 & 6:05pm Peter Rabbit 1:30pm Rampage 4:20pm Terminal 6:05 & 10:05pm

US ‘looking for a deal’ with China on tradeREUTERS

WASHINGTON/TOKYO: The United States is seeking to make a trade deal with China, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow (pictured) said yesterday as bilateral talks between the world’s two economic powerhouses resume in Washington this week.

Kudlow, speaking in a live interview with Politico news outlet, said he backed US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s efforts to reach an agreement with Beijing and that both countries must take action.

“He is looking for a deal, I support him on that, whole-heartedly, assuming it’s a good deal. He has my support,” Kudlow said, adding that no agreement had been reached yet.

“Both sides should try to lower tariffs as much as pos-sible... and to take down non-tariff barriers wherever they are,” he told Politico.

“Free and open trade, I think that’s the solution. I think that’s where we are as a group.” His comments come as US President Donald Trump’s top trade and economic officials prepare to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to discuss trade concerns ranging from intellectual property protections to farm goods to steel capacity.

Trump has long-promised to crack down on China and raised concerns about an all-out trade war after threatening $150bn in tariffs and prompting China to retaliate.

But he offered an olive branch in calling on US officials

to revisit penalties for Chinese company ZTE Corp for flouting US sanctions on trade with Iran and North Korea.

“Trade negotiations are con-tinuing with China. They have been making hundreds of bil-lions of dollars a year from the US, for many years. Stay tuned!” Trump tweeted yesterday.

Kudlow told Politico that the United States was not looking for a trade war with China and that it was not clear what action the United States would take toward ZTE.

This week’s meetings follow US-China trade talks in Beijing earlier this month where the two countries failed to reach an agreement on the long list of US demands.

US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, who was at the Beijing talks, said yesterday the United States wants a timetable on how China will open up its markets to US exports as the two countries are still not close to resolving trade frictions.

Washington and Beijing have proposed tens of billions of dollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown

trade war that could hurt global supply chains and dent business investment plans.

Branstad, speaking at a con-ference in Tokyo, said the Chinese appeared “taken back” by the significance of the list.

“The Chinese have said ‘we want to see the specifics.’ We gave them all the specifics in terms of trade issues. So they can’t say they don’t know what we’re asking for,” he said.

Branstad said China has not met pledges to open up its insurance and financial services area, as well as reduce auto tariffs, and that Trump would like to see a “dramatic increase” in food exports to China.

“We’re still very far apart.” Branstad said the United States could rescind the “Section 301” tariffs if China opened its agri-culture and auto markets.

Increasing US exports of liq-uefied natural gas could also be an area where the two countries could agree, he said.

“The United States and China are the two biggest economies in the world. The more we can work things out, the better it’s going to be not just for US and China, but for the entire world economy,” he said.

German GDP growth disappoints in first quarterAFP

FRANKFURT: The German economy grew slower than analysts had forecast in the first three months of 2018, federal statistics authority Destatis said yesterday, in a result likely to stoke fears of a eurozone slowdown.

Europe’s powerhouse expanded by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter between January and March, adjusting for price, seasonal and cal-endar effects, federal statistics authority Destatis said.

That was half the pace seen in the previous three months, and analysts surveyed by data company Factset had predicted growth of 0.4 percent. Destatis highlighted “positive impulses” from the domestic economy, as firms increased investments in buildings and equipment and households slightly increased consumer spending. But gov-ernment outlays fell slightly for the first time in almost five years, slowing growth, while both imports and exports fell back over the quarter com-pared with October to December. After an unex-pectedly strong year for the 19-nation single currency area in 2017, Germany’s weaker first-quarter growth follows a run of economic data sug-gesting a slowdown could be on the way for the eurozone.

Meanwhile, fears linger that the EU could be headed for a trade showdown with US President Donald Trump.

Air France-KLM names interim leaders after CEO’s quick exitAFP

PARIS: The board of Air France-KLM named chief financial officer Frederic Gagey (pictured) as interim CEO yesterday after Jean-Marc Janaillac quit in a bitter dispute over salaries in the group’s French wing.

Former French minister Anne-Marie Couderc was named non-executive chairman at the French-Dutch group, which has been hit by months of strikes as unions seek a 5.1 percent pay rise at Air France this year.

Gagey will sit on a new management committee alongside Franck Terner and Pieter Elbers, CEOs of the French and Dutch operations respec-tively, who will act as his dep-uties. But the board indicated that the temporary CEO will not have a mandate to find a way out of a pay dispute which man-agement says has cost at least ¤300m ($356m) due to strikes since February.

“Regarding the ongoing labour dispute at Air France... the Air France CEO does not have a new mandate to take decisions that would jeopardise the growth strategy approved by the Air France-KLM board of directors,” a statement said.

Janaillac had put his job on the line by calling a company-wide vote at Air France on whether to accept a proposed seven percent pay rise over four years.

He announced his resig-nation on May 4 after staff rejected the pay deal, sending

the group’s shares nosediving. The board hailed Janaillac’s

track record, saying he had pro-duced strong results since 2016 which had enabled a “successful turnaround and growth”, and expressed “deep regret” over the strikes. French Economy Min-ister Bruno Le Maire warned this month that “the survival of Air France is in the balance” as the strikes since February have repeatedly forced the airline to cancel around a quarter of flights a day.

Air France-KLM reported a net loss of ¤269m ($322m) for the first quarter, weighed down by the strikes. The board said the interm management structure would be in place “for the shortest-possible period” needed to appoint Janaillac’s successor, without imposing a specific time limit.

Couderc, a lawyer by training and an Air France board member since 2016, is a onetime protegee of former French pres-ident Jacques Chirac who has spent her career between business and politics.

Both sides should try to lower tariffs as much as possible... and to take down non-tariff barriers wherever they are.