Thursday, September 20, 2018Moharram 10, 1440 AH

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

Saudi jobs plan adds to retailers’ pain

Danske Bank boss quits over scandal

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Banks need to redefi ne their business models, says Doha Bank CEO

Exports to drive Qatar current account surplus to 9% of GDP in ’18: QNBBy Pratap JohnChief Business Reporter

Buoyant exports will drive Qatar’s cur-rent account surplus to nearly 9% of the country’s GDP in 2018; an in-

crease of around 5%, a new QNB report has shown.

With oil prices expected to average $72 for a barrel and LNG demand growth in Asia remaining vibrant, hydrocarbon ex-ports should sustain the country’s strong growth, QNB said in its ‘Qatar Economic Insight – September.’

On the import side, the expected pick-up in non-hydrocarbon GDP growth should see moderate growth resume, refl ecting the twin drivers of steady population increase and continued investment spending.

Government policies to promote self-suffi ciency and food security will however help cap overall import growth, QNB said.

For 2019, the current account surplus is expected to narrow back towards 7% of GDP as slightly lower oil prices crimp ex-port revenues and moderate import growth continues.

Qatar’s current account returned to a surplus of 3.8% of GDP in 2017 on the back of higher energy prices, QNB said.

Exports saw a robust growth of 17.5%, refl ecting the continued recovery in the oil price and booming LNG demand, particu-larly from China.

Imports, meanwhile, were broadly fl at for the year as a whole.

The economic blockade by some of Qa-tar’s neighbours produced a temporary disruption to trade, but imports quickly bounced back to above pre-blockade levels as trade fl ows have been successfully re-routed.

Imports from Turkey in particular have jumped and continue to show strong growth so far in 2018, QNB noted.

Qatar’s headline infl ation will remain muted in the remainder of 2018, the report said.

Infl ation is expected to average of 0.5% for the year as a whole; little changed from 2017’s average.

Signifi cantly higher infl ation awaits 2019, when the expected introduction of VAT by Q2, at a rate of 5%, mainly on clothes, other durable goods and non-es-sential services such as restaurants, hotels as well as entertainment will temporarily add around 2.5percentage points to year-

on-year CPI infl ation lifting it to close to 3%, the report said.

From Q2 2020, annual CPI infl ation will once again fall back as the VAT hike drops out of the annual comparison and with oil prices expected to slip back.

“We forecast CPI infl ation of 0.5% in 2018, rising to 1.9% in 2019,” QNB said.

Over the last year, CPI infl ation has been buff eted by a number of cross currents with a now ebbing spike in food infl ation (12.6% of the CPI basket) and higher energy costs (6.1% of the CPI) militating against rental

defl ation (a 21.9% weight). The net result has been to leave headline infl ation muted, QNB said.

The increased short-term costs associ-ated with the blockade, such as setting up new trade routes and importing food from outside the region saw domestic food pric-es temporarily spike higher.

Food infl ation jumped from -1.9% year-on-year in May 2017 to a peak of 5.8% y-o-y in January 2018 before subsiding to zero in June as the shock washes out, the report said. Page 15

Al-Baker tours Boeing factory in Everett

Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker toured the Boeing factory in Ev-erett, Washington on Tuesday with Boeing

Commercial Airplanes president and chief execu-tive offi cer Kevin McAllister.

Highlighting a relationship that spans more than a decade, the visit provided al-Baker and visiting guests with the opportunity to view Boeing’s 777X, the manufacturer’s latest-generation aircraft for which Qatar Airways is a global launch customer.

Building on the passenger-preferred and mar-ket-leading 777, the Boeing 777X is the largest and most effi cient twin-engine jet in the world, incor-porating 787 Dreamliner technologies and new advances to redefi ne the total passenger experi-ence featuring a wider cabin, larger windows and enhanced architecture.

Al-Baker said, “Our relationship with Boe-ing is testament to the fact that Qatar Airways is continuing to grow at a record pace. We are tre-mendously proud of our relationship with Boeing, and our visit is further evidence of our commit-ment to expanding our fl eet to include the most technologically-advanced and effi cient aircraft on the market. We are especially pleased to have had this opportunity to view the Boeing 777X, and are very proud to be a global launch customer for this product.”

McAllister said, “Boeing is proud of its long-standing relationship with Qatar Airways and the confi dence that the airline has consistently shown in our aircraft. We are honoured to host Qatar Airways at the Everett factory and to have the op-

portunity to share an up-close look at the 777X, which will be the largest and most effi cient twin-engine jet in the world when it enters revenue service in 2020.”

On Tuesday, Qatar Airways also took delivery of two Boeing 777 freighters, a further sign of the air-line’s continued investment in its fl eet and com-mitment to securing its position as the world’s leading cargo carrier.

Qatar Airways was the fi rst airline to operate the Boeing 787 in the Middle East. In 2016, the airline placed a record $18.6bn order for 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 777-300ERs.

Qatar Airways has developed strong relation-ships with its US partners, including Boeing, GE, and Gulfstream, who have been instrumental in helping the airline achieve the award-winning, high-quality product for which it is renowned.

Large portions of the airline’s fl eet are powered by engines made by US manufacturers. Addition-ally, US fi rms are major suppliers to Qatar Airways, which spent $6.1bn on US products in 2016 alone.

Qatar Airways serves 10 cities across the US including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

QP to support energy sector at Made in Qatar 2018 Oman edition

Qatar Petroleum (QP) is supporting the Made in Qatar 2018 exhibition in Oman as a partner of the event’s energy sector, Qatar Chamber announced in a statement.The expo, which will be organised by Qatar Chamber for the second time overseas, in co-operation with the Ministry of Energy and Industry and Qatar Development Bank (QDB) as strategic partner, is scheduled to be held from November 5 to 9 on a 10,000sq m area inside the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre in Muscat.The expo aims to exchange experiences with Omani companies in the industrial sectors, as well as to introduce Omani to Qatari products and opening up new foreign markets to small and large Qatari companies.QP said its keenness to sponsor the expo is part of its “serious endeavours” aimed at developing the industrial sector of the country since the exhibition presents an ideal platform that brings together various industries. It also enhances the eff orts being exerted for the advantage of the economic diversification, QP continued.Qatar Chamber director-general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi praised QP’s interest in supporting the expo, which significantly reflects its keenness on developing the Qatar’s industry sector.

Al-Sharqi also praised the role played by the company in the industry field and in the national economy in general.“QP’s sponsorship will enrich its outcomes,” he pointed out, assuring that the expo is a great opportunity that enables visitors to identify the development that Qatari products witness every year. “It off ers a good chance for Qatari firms to recognise the Omani market and promote their products in Oman, as well as review enhancing cooperation with Omani companies and establishing joint industrial ventures,” al-Sharqi said.QP is an integrated national oil corporation responsible for the sustainable development of the oil and gas industry in the State of Qatar and beyond.A cornerstone of Qatar’s socio-economic development, QP’s activities and those of its subsidiaries and joint ventures encompass the entire spectrum of the oil and gas value chain locally, regionally, and internationally. They include the exploration, refining, and production, as well as the marketing and sales of oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), natural gas liquids (NGL), gas to liquids (GTL) products, refined products, petrochemicals, fertilisers, steel and aluminium, and other various products.

QSE bets on new listings to boost liquidityBloombergDoha

The Qatar Stock Exchange is betting that more initial public off erings, especially by family-owned companies, will improve liquidity.“IPOs are a market fuel,” the bourse’s chief executive off icer Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori (pictured) said in an interview in Doha. “Family-owned companies which are mainly in the non-oil sector are playing a big role in our economy. Some of them are now being run by the third generation. We are encouraging and incentivising them to come for a listing.”Qatar Pharma submitted papers to list and Rayyan Water is also in the process to sell shares, al-Mansoori said. Food producing company Baladna already announced plans for an initial public off ering, he said, adding that the listing of Qatalum, Qatar Petroleum’s aluminium smelter, “should be happening in the next few weeks.”Qatar’s benchmark stock index has recovered last year’s losses incurred after the start of the blockade. The gauge is up 15% this year, the most globally in US dollar terms, versus a loss of 11% for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. However, the strong rally hasn’t translated into a boost in volumes, with daily trading remaining lower than in 2014, when MSCI included Qatar in its emerging markets category.“To improve the market liquidity we are doing IPOs, introducing new products and working with regulators to make the environment more encouraging for foreign investors,” al-Mansoori said. While foreigners own between 10% and 12% of total shares traded locally, they are responsible for more than 30% of the daily value traded, he said.The stock exchange is trying to expand its investor base by penetrating into Asia with roadshows, besides continuing investor engagement in Europe and America, he said.The exchange is also looking to introduce single stock derivatives next year. “We are laying the ground for the market framework and working closely with the regulators in this regard,” al-Mansoori said.To ensure that Qatar’s weighting in MSCI and FTSE Russell’s emerging-market benchmarks is not diluted once Saudi Arabia is added to the gauges in 2019, the Qatari regulator is working with companies to improve liquidity. More exchange-traded funds are also planned, he said.“We have a pipeline of good companies to list,” he said.

Al-Baker touring the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington on Tuesday

File photo taken on February 6, 2017 shows a part of the Ras Laff an Industrial City, Qatar’s principal site for the production of LNG and gas-to-liquids, some 80km north of Doha. With oil prices expected to average $72 for a barrel and LNG demand growth in Asia remaining vibrant, hydrocarbon exports should sustain the country’s strong growth, QNB has said.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 20, 20182

QSE edges lower despite strong buying interest at insurance counterBy Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

The Qatar Stock Exchange yesterday saw strong buying interests at the insurance counter but overall it settled in the negative at a tad above 9,800 levels.The telecom, consumer goods and banking sectors witnessed higher than average selling, leading to a 0.18% decline for the fourth straight session to 9,805.4 points.Doha Bank- and Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange traded funds QATR and QETF witnessed 0.36% and 2% declines respectively.The Islamic equities were seen declining slower than the other indices in the market which is up more than 15% year-to-date.Trade turnover grew amidst falling volumes in the bourse, where industrials and banking sectors together accounted for about 51% of the total volume.

The Total Return Index fell 0.18% to 17,276.02 points and the Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price) by 0.03% to 2,357.33 points, while the All Share Index gained 0.08% to 2,877.07 points.The telecom index shrank 1%, followed by consumer goods (0.44%) and banks and financial services (0.23%); whereas insurance gained 3.92%, realty (0.39%), industrials (0.07%) and transport (0.05%).Major losers included Ooredoo, Commercial Bank, Salam International Investment, Medicare Group, Gulf International Services and Vodafone Qatar; while Qatar Insurance, Zad Holding, Qatari Investors Group, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding and Untied Development Company were among the gainers.The Gulf institutions turned net sellers to the tune of QR20.2mn compared with net buyers of QR0.42mn on Tuesday.Local individual investors’ net profit-

booking increased marginally to QR21.73mn against QR21.6mn on September 18.However, non-Qatari institutions’ net buying expanded perceptibly to QR64.15mn compared to QR63.03mn the previous day.Non-Qatari individuals turned net buyers to the tune of QR3.06mn against net sellers of QR1.08mn on Tuesday.Domestic institutions’ net profit-booking weakened considerably to QR24.51mn compared to QR39.97mn on September 18.The Gulf individuals’ net selling declined marginally to QR0.79mn against QR0.83mn the previous day.Total trade volume fell 5% to 5.55mn shares, while value gained 3% to QR218.8mn and transactions by 3% to 3,301.The telecom sector’s trade volume plummeted 49% to 0.57mn equities, value by 7% to QR14.98mn and deals by 6% to 328.The banks and financial services sector saw a 27% plunge in trade volume to 1.29mn

stocks, 13% in value to QR77.38mn and 7% in transactions to 902.The real estate sector’s trade volume shrank 8% to 0.94mn shares; while value grew 11% to QR25.37mn and deals by 5% to 488.However, the insurance sector’s trade volume almost doubled to 0.71mn equities and value doubled to QR27.4mn on a 21% jump in transactions to 202.There was 57% surge in the consumer goods sector’s trade volume to 0.33mn stocks, 17% in value to QR23.31mn and 43% in deals to 288.The industrials sector’s trade volume soared 26% to 1.53mn shares, value by 1% to QR45.37mn and transactions by 7% to 929.The transport sector reported 19% expansion in trade volume to 0.19mn equities but on a 6% decline in value to QR4.97mn and 10% in deals to 164.In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and sovereign bonds.

Jobs-for-Saudis plan adds to retailers’ pain amid downturnBloombergRiyadh

Mohanad Faham is wondering whether the furniture show-room he manages in Riyadh

can survive a drive to get more Saudis into work.

The business is already battling an economic downturn; its storefront is plastered with red signs advertising discounts of nearly 60%. Meeting a government directive to replace most of the foreign staff who dominate the retail sector with higher-paid Saudi nationals could push it over the edge.

Faham, a Syrian, said he had trained several Saudi salesmen only to see them quit within weeks. They often aren’t used to shift work, he said, and only one has proved committed to the job.

“Everything came at the same time,” Faham said. “We have high rent in this area, demand is low in the market and costs are high.”

Creating jobs for Saudis is a crucial goal of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to transform the econ-omy and prepare the world’s largest crude exporter for the post-oil era.

That means upending tradition-al employment patterns where the private sector is dominated by for-eign workers while nationals typi-cally gravitate toward the public sec-tor, where hours are shorter and jobs more secure. With unemployment at 12.9%, its highest level in more than a decade, and about a quarter million young Saudis entering the job mar-ket each year, those government jobs are no longer enough. And the coun-try’s youthful population means the price of failure for the kingdom’s de facto ruler could be high; if too many of them come of age without jobs, he could risk fraying support or even un-rest.

The fi rst phase of the retail “Sau-disation” push went into eff ect this month, with car dealerships and sellers of clothing, furniture and household utensils now expected to employ Sau-dis in 70% of sales jobs.

Electrical retailers, watch sellers and

opticians must comply in November, followed in January by stores that sell sweets, carpets, construction materi-als, medical equipment and spare car parts.

In Souq Al-Maigliah – a tradi-tional market in southern Riyadh – many shops are already staffed by Saudis. Hassan al-Nakhaifi, 30, landed a job selling men’s acces-sories a few days ago and is pleased with the changes. “The state did well for us,” he said.

Inside a furniture store, 20-year-old saleswoman Maha Abdullah was full of enthusiasm for the job she started two months ago. “I’m learning new things, and it’s really enjoyable,” she said, praising a labour policy she cred-

its with encouraging more women to work.

The crown prince has pledged to transform the expatriate-dependent economy in little over a decade, just in time to defuse the demographic time-bomb.

But an austerity drive that has seen the government impose VAT and addi-tional fees for expats while scaling back subsidies, is pushing companies to fi re, not hire. Hiring Saudis is seen as a bur-den by some businesses that rely on cheaper labour from Pakistan, India, Egypt or Yemen.

Graham Griffi ths, a senior analyst at Control Risks in Dubai, said smaller retailers in particular will struggle to meet the targets and may close.

“The Saudi private sector is in a very diffi cult position,” he said. “The econ-omy is under strain, taxes and fees have increased, and costs – from labour to utilities – are rising.”

For many foreigners, it seems like time to go home, joining the hundreds of thousands who’ve already left.

Salem, a 19-year-old Yemeni work-ing at his father’s watch stand, said the family was considering shutting up shop even with their country mired in war. He declined to give his last name.

Yet unemployment among Saudi men increased to 7.6% in the fi rst quarter from 7.2% in the same period last year, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics, sug-gesting that displacing foreign workers

may not be enough.Labour Ministry spokesman Khalid

Aba al-Khail has said the reform will create about 60,000 jobs for Saudis and an offi cial at the small and medi-um enterprises authority estimated it could create as many as 490,000 jobs.

But a recent report by Ziad Daoud, chief Middle East economist for Bloomberg Economics, estimated that the kingdom would need to add 700,000 positions by 2020 to meet its 9% unemployment target.

It may also have to invest more in training. Sami Mohammed, an Eritrean salesman, wasn’t impressed with the Saudis hired to join him.

“They would leave,” he said, “and tell me, ‘we’ll let you do the work’.”

Egypt stocks plunge as liquidity tightens

ReutersDubai

Egypt’s stock market plunged to its lowest

close this year yesterday as liquidity tightened,

while most Gulf markets were little changed

and Saudi Arabia continued to rebound from

six-month lows.

The Egyptian stock index tumbled 3.8%, its big-

gest drop since mid-2016.

On Sunday it had plunged 3.6% after an Egyp-

tian criminal court ordered the arrest of ousted

president Hosni Mubarak’s two sons on charges

of stock market manipulation.

Fund managers said Egypt’s slide was at least

partly due to jitters in emerging markets glo-

bally, although MSCI’s emerging market equity

index rose on Wednesday, and credit default

swaps and currency forwards do not so far

show heavy pressure on the Eguptian pound.

“Our channel checks suggest the sell-off in the

Egyptian market is local retail and institutions

driven, on currency fears and speculation over

a further round of devaluation,” said Vrajesh

Bhandari, portfolio manager at Al Mal in Dubai.

“Selling is further intensified as margin calls are

triggered and technical support levels break

down. The country cancelled three consecutive

Treasury auctions, citing investors’ unrealistic

yield demands.”

Rania Yacoub at 3Way Finance in Cairo cited a

“severe lack of liquidity in the market and inves-

tor worries about the emerging markets crisis”.

“Eyes are on the next central bank meeting on

interest rates to see how the bank will behave

in light of the limited options before it,” Yacoub

said.

Allen Sandeep, head of research at Naeem

Brokerage, said nobody completely understood

the reasons for the market’s losses but they

probably included fallout from the arrests of the

Mubarak sons, liquidity being drained by two

initial public off ers now under way, and margin

calls.

Qalaa Holdings, which has said its investor

relations head Amr El-Kadi was detained in con-

nection with the manipulation case, plummeted

8.9% yesterday.

But investment bank EFG-Hermes, which has

said its non-executive vice chairman Yasser El

Mallawany was also detained in connection with

the case, closed up 0.3%.

In Saudi Arabia, the index climbed 1.1%.

High oil prices and the Gulf’s currency pegs

to the dollar have protected the region from

some though not all of the emerging market

turmoil.

Riyadh exchange data released early this week

showed foreign money continuing to enter the

market, although in much-reduced volumes.

Telecommunications firm Mobily climbed 2.2%

while petrochemical producer Saudi Kayan

added 2.0%.

Dubai’s index shed 0.1% in narrow trade, with

decliners outnumbering gainers by 20 to 11.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Abu Dhabi’s index gained

0.2% to 4,884 points; Kuwait’s index lost 0.3%

to 5,322 points, while Oman’s index lost 0.2% to

4,485 points.

Looking for cheap property in Dubai? Check the bourseBloombergDubai

Dubai is known for its high skyscrapers and lavish lifestyle, and owning real

estate in the sunny Gulf city may sound like a non-aff ordable dream for many people. By contrast, stocks of its biggest property own-ers and developers are becoming increasingly within reach.

Shares of Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest building and an icon of Dubai, can be bought at the lowest valuation since 2010. Competitor Damac Properties Dubai Co, known for its business ties with US Presi-dent Donald Trump’s family com-pany, traded earlier this year at the cheapest price-to-earnings ratio in more than 17 months.

Both stocks have tumbled more than 30% this year as real-estate prices in Dubai have dropped and domestic demand has faltered,

prompting the government to an-nounce a series of measures to stimulate the economy. Earlier this month, S&P Global Ratings

cut the credit worthiness of two local companies, including one that owns properties in Dubai’s fi -nancial centre, citing deteriorating

credit conditions.Dubai’s income level, as meas-

ured by gross domestic product per capita, has declined on an an-nual basis to $37,000 in 2018 from a peak of $45,000 in 2013, accord-ing to S&P analysts Sapna Jagtiani and Tommy Trask. “We view this decline as an indicator of weak-ened macroeconomic fundamen-tals, as a country’s income level gives an indication of the potential tax and funding base for a govern-ment,” they wrote in a report. They expect annual income to decline to $36,000 in 2020.

Emaar Properties – whose name can be seen in big letters on top of buildings in areas popular among expatriates, such as the surrounds of Burj Khalifa and Dubai Marina – trades at about 4.8 times estimat-ed earnings in the next 12 months, the lowest in more than eight years. That’s below the 6.6 times of the MSCI EM Real Estate Index. Damac Properties also trades at 4.8 times.

Turkey cuts investment levels for citizenship; property sales seen boostedReutersIstanbul

Turkey has slashed the fi -nancial and investment criteria for foreigners to be-

come Turkish citizens, in a move expected to double annual prop-erty investment by foreigners to around $10bn, according to sector offi cials.

The government has been taking measures to boost investment in the economy and shore up the lira, which has fallen 40% this year due to jitters about President Tayyip Erdogan’s sway over monetary policy and a row with the US that has triggered reciprocal sanctions and trade curbs.

According to new regula-tions, foreigners can become citi-zens if they own property worth $250,000 for three years, down from a previous value set at $1mn, or if they hold $500,000 of Turk-ish debt for three years, down from a previous $3mn.

The reduction of the minimum limit to invest for citizenship is expected to double property sales and bring in cash which would otherwise be invested in Greece or other European Union countries, sector offi cials said.

Foreigners purchased $4.6bn worth of properties last year, with a large proportion of them from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia, according to official data.

“Annual sales of $10bn is not an unrealistic amount; it can be achieved with the new regulation change,” Real Estate Investment Association (GYODER) Chair Feyzullah Yetgin said.

Fire-damaged apartments sit on the upper floors of the Address Downtown Dubai hotel, developed by Emaar Properties, in Dubai on January 3, 2016. Emaar trades at about 4.8 times estimated earnings in the next 12 months, the lowest in more than eight years.

The telecom, consumer goods and banking sectors witnessed higher than average selling on the QSE yesterday, leading to a 0.18% dip to 9,805.4 points

Women walk on a street in Riyadh (file). With unemployment at 12.9%, its highest level in more than a decade, and about a quarter million young Saudis entering the job market each year, those government jobs are no longer enough.

BUSINESS3Gulf Times

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Emerging market debt issuance on ice after turbulent summerReutersLondon

Emerging-market debt issuance is on

hold after a summer of volatility, with

the market eff ectively closed for bor-

rowers like Turkey and Russia, although

Asian and Middle East issuers can still

get their bonds to market.

Bond sales usually rebound in

September after a quiet August, but

this year currency crises in Turkey and

Argentina and worries about rising

US sanctions risk for Russia have kept

volumes dramatically lower.

“Emerging markets had a rough

time, and we have seen the eff ects of

that when it comes to debt issuance —

the pipeline is pretty empty,” said one

senior debt capital markets banker,

who declined to be named.

“It would be very diff icult for Turkey

to come to the market, and Russia has

the Damocles sword of sanctions hang-

ing over it.”

Emerging-market sovereigns have

issued just $3.4bn of hard-currency

debt so far this month, according to

Thomson Reuters data, compared with

$28.8bn for September 2017.

This year’s third-quarter total is run-

ning at $9.9bn to September 17, versus

2017’s $36.6bn.

The sovereign market was “basi-

cally dead”, Regis Chatellier, global

sovereign credit analyst at Societer

Generale, said.

But that followed bumper issuance

in January and April of $38.5bn and

$37.5bn respectively — the two biggest

months ever.

This meant funding needs were less

pressing.

On the demand side, emerging-

market bond funds have suff ered net

outflows of $21.6bn so far this yea,

according to data from EPFR Global,

compared with inflows of $64.4 bn over

the same period in 2017.

Of this, hard-currency emerging-

market debt funds have lost $6.26bn,

compared with net inflows of $35.47bn

in 2017.

It’s a stark contrast to 2017 when

asset managers were so flush with

cash that even frontier markets such as

Tajikistan could sell bonds.

A sustained sell-off in Turkey and Ar-

gentina triggered a bout of contagion

in August, prompting spreads to blow

out to a two-year high and clobbering

emerging-market debt fund perform-

ance — already underwater at the

half-year mark.

On the sovereign side, Chatellier said

that only the strongest names had is-

sued, such as the Philippines, which set

an Asian Samurai bond record in early

August with a $1.38bn three-tranche

deal. Saudi Arabia also raised $2bn in

sukuk, while South Korea hit the road

for an SEC-registered bond issue.

“For high yield, the market is dif-

ficult,” Chatellier said.

He does not expect see any im-

provement this year, given the poor

geopolitical backdrop and the fact that

the US Federal Reserve is tightening,

raising borrowing costs for countries

issuing dollar debt.

On the corporate side, issuance is

running at $8.7bn in the quarter to

September 17, compared with $41.6bn

over the third quarter in 2017.

Post-summer issuance has come

mainly from Asian and Middle Eastern

issuers, including property companies

such as Poly Real Estate, and banks

such as First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Agri-

cultural Development Bank of China..

In emerging Europe, issuance has

been much thinner, although Poland’s

mBank, a BBB-rated credit, and Czech

Republic’s Atrium Real Estate managed

to close transactions — the latter at

its second attempt — at a new-issue

premium of about 60 basis points.

“That’s real estate which is over-

supplied for the year, but the broader

point is that not everything works and

if you don’t fit within what investors

want to buy it will be diff icult,” said

Ranko Milic, head of CEEMEA debt

capital markets at UBS.

Private equity is increasing bets on risky Permian pipelinesBloombergHouston

To get a toehold in the prolifi c Per-mian Basin, private equity is in-creasingly betting on a relatively

obscure, and potentially risky, part of the pipeline industry.

Operations in the Permian that gather oil and gas, and process fuel into propane and other liquids, have drawn almost $14bn in investment since the start of 2017, with $9.2bn of that com-ing from private companies, according to Matthew Phillips, an analyst at Gug-genheim Securities LLC.

On September 5, Blackstone Group’s EagleClaw Midstream said it was pay-ing $950mn for Caprock Midstream Holdings, a closely held company with gathering and processing assets in the Permian. And in July, Crestwood Equity Partners LP said its venture with First Reserve Corp had opened a processing plant in Orla, Texas, and is working on a gathering Line.

Steel goes into the ground for big pipelines that move oil and gas across states only after producers commit to pay for space over a period of years. But investors in gathering pipes and processing plants are forced to lean

on long-term projections, since their projects depend on continuous output over time from the same area.

“Any time there’s massive supply growth, there is some risk-seeking behavior,” said Jeff Jorgensen, portfo-lio manager and director of research at Brookfi eld Asset Management Inc’s Public Securities Group. There’s a ten-dency by some to “invest in production profi les that are, let’s just say, hilari-ously aggressive in their assumptions” for the future, he said.

It’s easy to see where that aggres-siveness is coming from. Researcher IHS Markit predicts output in the Per-

mian Basin will double by 2023 to reach 5.4mn barrels a day. That’s more than every Opec country except Saudi Ara-bia. By 2035, it could hit 6.3mn barrels, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Unlike in other basins where gather-ing and processing deals are charac-terised by price-to-earnings multiples in the low teens, the Permian is seeing ratios average around 18 times, accord-ing to Kathleen Connelly, an analyst at Fitch Ratings. But bullish projections don’t always pan out across every acre in the Permian, leaving the pipes and processing plants that had counted on those volumes for revenue high and dry.

Markets shrug as US, China exchange blows in rising trade warBloombergTokyo

It could’ve been worse. It’s already priced in. Tariff s won’t derail global growth. As Wall Street investors

are still trying to put their fi nger on the reason why fi nancial markets have shrugged off the Trump administra-tion’s latest salvo in the trade war with China.

Yes, there was the now-common knee-jerk reaction to last evening’s announcement that the US will slap tariff s of 10% on $200bn in Chinese goods: S&P 500 futures tumbled, the yen spiked and Asian futures signalled losses. Almost immediately though, those reversed and held even after Chi-na said it would retaliate without not-ing specifi c actions.

“It’s a bit of a strange reaction,” said Ayako Sera, a strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo. “Some investors seem to have already priced in the Trump administration’s an-nouncement. The market moves sug-gest the event is over.”

It’s not that the latest escalation in the months’ long trade war is good news. It’s that there are several reasons investors had no need to panic:

With Asian equities near the cheapest valuations in more than two years, emerging-market stocks in a bear market and the Shanghai Com-posite Index closing at the lowest since 2014 on Monday, some trade fallout has already been accounted for.

Trump’s plan to lift the levy to 25% next year means there’s room for negotiation between now and then, including the chance of a more con-

ciliatory stance after the US mid-term elections.

And while the tariff s may kick in next week, the economic impact will take a lot longer to be felt. That means there’s time to think about other things, like bumper Japanese profi ts.

A media outlet reported Chinese offi cials may announce measures to help build transport networks, which sent industrial companies higher and reassured investors the authorities will support the economy.

“Trump is now discounted, what is not discounted is a potential indirect retaliation by China,” said Nader Nae-imi, the head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors Ltd in Sydney.

Others said this latest round of tar-iff s could have been worse.

“There were investors who’d been thinking a 25% tariff in one go is a

possibility,” said Shogo Maekawa, a Tokyo-based global market strategist with JPMorgan Asset Management. “It could be considered something good in this realm of bad things.”

And then there were those who may have taken heart from China’s commerce minister saying the na-tion is confident in achieving its economic targets, even though the comments were from Monday, be-fore the tariff news. Treasury fu-tures slipped after the statement was uploaded to China’s Commerce Ministry’s website.

Japanese stocks surged after a holi-day on Monday. The Topix index closed 1.8% higher, the biggest gain since March.

“The market had anticipated the US would impose additional tariff s by the end of the month,” said Hiroaki Mino,

a senior strategist at Mizuho Securi-ties Co in Tokyo. “Trade frictions re-main as a weight on the equity market, but the market is in the middle of di-gesting trade concerns and increasing expectations over Japanese corporate earnings.”

South Korean equities were mod-estly higher as President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Australian dollar, a risk barometer that reversed its 0.5% decline, sat at 72.16 US cents.

Chinese equities fl uctuated in morning trading and then jumped amid expectations the government will take steps to off set the negative eff ect of US tariff s.

While China has thus far vowed to match escalating US tariff s tit for tat, the real question is what Beijing will

do once it runs out of goods on which to reciprocate, said Nick Twidale, chief operating offi cer at Rakuten Se-curities’ Australian unit.

“That’s where it gets interesting,” he said. “As we start to hit levels where they can’t reciprocate in terms of tar-iff s, then they can turn to other meas-ures to counteract this move from the US and one could be to allow the cur-rency to depreciate further and possi-bly faster.”

Plans to send Vice-Premier Liu He to Washington for talks are being re-viewed, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an unidentifi ed gov-ernment offi cial in Beijing.

“Of course, China’s response is critical. It could target $100bn of US exports with an additional 20% tariff to respond ‘proportionately’,” Nomura Holdings Inc said in a report.

Sensex sheds 169 points; rupee strengthens to 72.37 against dollarBloomberg, ReutersMumbai

The BSE Sensex and the NSE’s Nifty 50 erased early gains and turned negative yesterday. Both the indices declined for the third straight day yesterday, mainly due to heavy losses in finance stocks such as HDFC. Shares of asset management companies HDFC AMC and Reliance Nippon AMC fell up to 12% after market regulator Sebi cut the total expense ratio on mutual fund schemes. FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,143.73 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, while DIIs purchased shares worth Rs 264.66 crore, provisional data showed. In global markets, European shares advanced, tracking gains in their Asian peers, despite the US-China trade war deepening. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia expressed comfort with Brent prices rising above $80 a barrel. The BSE Sensex closed lower by 169.45 points, or 0.45%, at 37,121.22, while the Nifty 50 fell 42.55 points, or 0.38%, to close at 11,236.35. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap fell 0.72% and 0.98%, respectively. Among the BSE sectoral indices, metal, oil and gas, basic materials and IT gained, while FMCG, finance, realty and consumer durables declined.Shares of HDFC group companies led losses as the HDFC AMC stock fell over 8% after Sebi on Tuesday cut the total expense ratio on mutual fund schemes.HDFC fell 1.35% and HDFC Bank was down 1.58%.Coal India, ONGC, Tata Steel and GAIL were among the top gainers, while IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Yes Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the major losers.Meanwhile the Indian rupee rallied the most in almost four months following a ET Now

television channel report that the central bank is studying a possibility of allowing oil companies to purchase dollars directly from it instead of market. Sovereign bonds also advanced, tracking gains in the currency.The currency gained 0.8%, the biggest since May 25, to close at 72.37 per dollar yesterday, after rising as much 0.9% following the news report about Reserve Bank of India selling dollars directly to oil companies.The rupee declined 1.5% in the two days to Tuesday as measures announced by the government late Friday were deemed insufficient to curb the declines in Asia’s worst-performing currency.“This move, if it happens, will take the pressure off the rupee,” said Paresh Nayar, the Mumbai-based head of currency and money markets at FirstRand. “Now, the market participants will be eagerly looking forward to the actual announcement and also curbs on non-essential imports to reduce the current account deficit.”The rupee has declined about 12% this year in Asia’s worst performance as an emerging-market rout raises investor scrutiny of countries with worsening balance of payments.On Tuesday, the rupee touched an all-time low of 72.97 to a dollar as crude oil surged amid concerns about Iranian supply and a report that Saudi Arabia was comfortable with Brent prices above $80 a barrel.The 10-year gilt yield closed at 8.072% yesterday, below its previous close of 8.14%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directionsThe rupee has weakened 12.2% in 2018, and foreign investors have sold $771.30mn and $6.48bn in the equity and debt markets, respectively.

Asian bourses ride positive wave on hopes for trade resolutionAFPHong Kong

Asian markets rose yesterday as tit-for-tat tariff s by China and the United States were considered

lighter than feared, while there are hopes the two sides can eventually hammer out a deal to avert an all-out trade war.

Donald Trump on Monday said he would press ahead with 10% levies on an-other $200bn of imports, prompting Bei-jing to target $60bn of US goods with fi ve to 10% taxes.

The developments were a clear step up in the months-long stand-off between the world’s top economies but analysts said dealers had been expecting the meas-ures and essentially took the lower rates as a positive sign.

Wall Street’s three main indexes rallied and Asia picked up the baton.

Tokyo rose 1.8% in the afternoon, with a shift out of the safe haven yen support-ing Japanese exporters, while by the break Hong Kong and Shanghai each added 1%.

Sydney rose 0.6%, Singapore was up 0.5% and Taipei increased 0.7%. Wel-lington, Bangkok and Jakarta also posted strong gains but Seoul and Manila inched down.

“The bottom line why the market didn’t react negatively was the lack of shock and awe given the tariff s were so well tel-egraphed,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacifi c trade at OANDA.

Dealers are now keeping an eye on pos-sible talks between Washington and Bei-jing after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent an invite to avert a trade war, which many fear could destabilise the world economy.

“It’s more likely that there will be some negotiated resolution coming through in the near term,” George Schultze, founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management

in New York, told Bloomberg TV. “Cooler heads will eventually prevail because oth-erwise both sides are shooting themselves in the foot.”

However, Innes warned of further up-heaval for investors.

“Despite the market taking the bluster in stride, history tells us that tariff s are detrimental for global trade and com-merce,” he said. “As such the current lev-

els of market buoyancy belie the possible groundswell that could overrun markets.”

On oil markets, both main contracts were fl at after rallying more than 1% on Tuesday on the back of comments from Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia that it is happy with prices rising above $80 a barrel.

On foreign exchanges, the broadly up-beat sentiment provided support to em-battled high-yielding and emerging mar-

ket currencies, with Indonesia’s rupiah up 0.2%, the Australian dollar 0.3% higher and the Thai baht 0.1% up.

The Mexican peso, Russian rouble and South African rand were around 0.4% up.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed up 1.8% to 23,832.28 points; Hong Kong — Hang Seng ended up 1.0% to 27,348.14 points and Shanghai — Composite closed up 1.0% to 2,726.27 points yesterday.

A frontal view of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan. The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.8% to 23,832.28 points yesterday.

China says won’t weakencurrency to boost exportsReutersTianjin, China

China will not stoop to competi-tive devaluation of its currency, Premier Li Keqiang stressed,

hours after China hit back, with a soft-er punch than the one landed by the United States, in an escalating tariff war between the world’s largest econ-omies.

Addressing a World Economic Fo-rum event in the port city of Tianjin yesterday, Li did not directly mention the trade confl ict but said talk of Bei-jing deliberately weakening its curren-cy was “groundless.”

“One-way depreciation of the yuan brings more harm than benefi ts for China,” he said. “China will never go down the road of relying on yuan de-preciation to stimulate exports.”

China will not do that to chase “thin profi ts” and “a few small bucks”.

Li went on to say that the world’s multi-lateral trading system should be upheld, and that unilateral trade ac-tions will not solve any problems.

His remarks gave a lift to the yuan, which has lost about 9% of its value since mid-April amid the ongoing trade war.

On Tuesday, Beijing added $60bn of US products to its import tariff list in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s planned levies on $200bn of Chinese goods.

But Beijing is running out of room to respond to any further US tariff s on a dollar-for-dollar basis, raising con-cerns it may resort to other measures to weather what could be a protracted trade battle.

China has yet to publicly accept an invitation extended last week by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to hold a fresh round of talks, which Chi-na welcomed at the time.

Yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokes-man Geng Shuang said he had no in-formation on a possible trade delega-tion and questioned US sincerity about wanting new talks, noting that the last round was followed immediately by the activation of new tariff s.

“This has become a kind of US rou-tine,” he said.

The United States wants to pressure China to make sweeping changes to its trade, technology transfer and high-tech industrial subsidy policies.

Trump had warned that retaliation by China would trigger tariff s on an-other $267bn of Chinese goods, on top of duties on $250bn in imports that are

already in place or threatened. China, which bought only $130bn in American goods last year, has imposed or threat-ened tariff s on $110bn in US products.

“China are out of bullets. The fi ght is done and dusted.

Now it’s just a question of how the Chinese can save face and say ‘alright we’re going to change, going to open up wider access not only to the US but to the EU and Japan’,” said Christopher Peel, chief investment offi cer at Tavis-tock Wealth in London.

“Their economy is export-led, they can’t aff ord for it to go out of control,” he told Reuters.

The new US tariff s will begin on Sep-tember 24 at 10% and will increase to 25% by the end of 2018, with Bank of

America Merrill Lynch forecasting a 0.5 percentage point decline in Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2019 to 6.1%.

Oxford Economics said in a note that China’s economic growth in 2019 could fall well below 6%, and said prospects for near-term easing in ten-sions were low.

But, it added “the likelihood of de-escalation will rise over time as the increasing economic impact in the US will make the Trump team less com-bative, and China realises that it will be hard to integrate more into the glo-bal economy without some conces-sions regarding its specific economic model.”

Investors were relieved that the lat-

est escalation was less severe than some market participants had expect-ed, with Asian stocks rising yesterday and US Treasury yields near four-month highs.

China remains unafraid of the “ex-treme measures” taken by the United States, the People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page article in its over-seas edition yesterday.

“To deal with the trade war, what China really should do is to focus on doing its own thing well,” said the newspaper, which is published by the ruling Communist Party.

“(China) is not worried that the US trade counter measures will raise do-mestic commodity prices by too much but will instead use it as an opportu-

nity to replace imports, promote lo-calisation or develop export-oriented advanced manufacturing,” it said.

The Global Times tabloid, which is affi liated to the People’s Daily, said the trade war was a chance to pursue greater global recognition of its fi nan-cial markets and that it could open its A-share market more to listings by Western fi rms.

Confi dence among Asian companies has slumped to the weakest in almost three years as businesses fear collateral damage from the worsening trade war and China’s slowing economy, the lat-est Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

Chinese fi rms were the most pessi-mistic since the poll began in 2009.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 20, 20184

Nanhua plans London Metal Exchange debutReutersLondon

Major Chinese broker Nanhua Futures is planning to start trading on the London Metal

Exchange in the fi rst half of next year as the market experiences a wave of fresh interest from China.

Nanhua’s move comes as Chinese conglomerate Fosun International holds talks to buy Marex Spectron, one of the biggest brokers on the LME – the world’s oldest and biggest trading ven-ue for industrial metals.

Chinese banks and brokers have sought to capitalise on their country’s growing role as a top metals producer and consumer, but they have yet to be-come major players on the LME, indus-try sources say.

Many have seen their ambitious plans for trading metals like copper and alu-minium hit by institutional red tape, cultural clashes and lack of clear strat-egy, according to the sources, including insiders at some of the Chinese groups’ British operations.

Five Chinese institutions are already running trading operations on the LME as clearing members and industry sources said at least four others – be-sides Nanhua and Fosun – are consider-ing doing so.

Chinese groups were attracted to the LME after the $2.2bn takeover of the 141-year-old exchange by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd in 2012.

Nong Yan, chief executive of Nan-hua Financial (UK) Co Ltd, believes the broker can handle the tough business of LME trading. “I want Nanhua UK to be a bridge between East and West, refl ecting

my experience,” she told Reuters in an interview. Nanhua Futures is one of Chi-na’s biggest brokerages, with assets of more than 15bn yuan ($2.2bn), according to its website, and has already expanded into the United States and Singapore.

Yan was formerly managing director of China Merchant Securities (CMS), one of the Chinese fi rms in Britain that set up LME trading operations.

She has also worked at established LME brokers such as INTL FCStone and Sucden Financial.

After launching LME trading, Nan-hua aims to expand to other commodi-ties and fi nancial products, Yan said.

Many of the Chinese institutions moving into metals trading in London were driven by the Belt and Road Initia-tive, a Chinese government push to take a larger role in global trade.

But the push to establish LME opera-

tions in some cases lacked a clear strat-egy, industry sources said.

“The Chinese LME members are not very active and Chinese clients are still doing the vast majority of their busi-ness through Western members,” said a highly placed industry source, who de-clined to be identifi ed.

Bank of China International (BOCI), which became the fi rst Chinese member of the LME in 2012, is regarded as the most successful of the fi ve, the sources said.

BOCI, the investment banking arm of state-backed Bank of China, built up a steady operation by servicing its parent fi rm’s corporate clients, but the scale of its operation is relatively small.

The LME is committed to creating more opportunities for Chinese fi rms to trade on the exchange, Chief Executive Matthew Chamberlain told Reuters.

“We believe that Chinese demand is under-represented on the LME but that risk management continues to grow in China as more metals companies look to hedge their price risk,” he said.

Yan at Nanhua declined to comment on her time at CMS, which she left in May, but other industry sources said it targeted Chinese clients with generous off ers of credit lines.

The CMS British unit focused on Chinese clients, but that resulted in an unbalanced portfolio, spurring mil-lions of dollars in margin calls on sharp market moves, another industry source said.

The Chinese parent has now reduced its UK metals activity, the sources said.

Turnover last year fell 34% to $8.8mn, while operating profi t slid 53% to $1.2mn, its fi nancial statements showed.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during a meeting in Beijing. Addressing a World Economic Forum event in the port city of Tianjin yesterday, Li did not directlymention the trade conflict but said talk of Beijing deliberately weakening its currency was “groundless.”

India’s largesthotel chain OYO to expand into Britain

ReutersLondon

OYO Hotels, India’s largest and

fastest-growing hotel chain,

aims to shake up Britain’s

budget accommodation

market with a franchising and

marketing strategy to sign up

300 independent hotels before

2020, its founder told Reuters

yesterday.

Marking its first expansion

outside Asia, the franchiser

said it planned to invest £40mn

($53mn) to launch in 10 British

cities in the next 18 months via

a smartphone-based service for

franchise owners and guests.

Whitbread’s Premier Inn

chain is the leader in Britain’s

economy hotel industry.

Other branded operators

include private equity-backed

Travelodge and Holiday Inn Ex-

press, a unit of Intercontinental

Hotels Group.

Ritesh Agarwal, OYO’s

24-year-old founder, said in

a phone interview that his

company will select hotels from

among Britain’s 35,000-40,000

independent operators, off ering

redesign, property manage-

ment and marketing to help

them compete.

“By focusing on the customer

and small asset owners, we

tend to out compete some of

our more traditional hotel chain

rivals,” said Agarwal, one of

India’s start-up success stories.

He was among a handful of

students paid $100,000 to drop

out of university by venture

capitalist Peter Thiel and move

to Silicon Valley at age 19 to

learn about becoming an entre-

preneur.

OYO is backed by SoftBank

Group’s Vision Fund, the world’s

biggest private tech investor,

which views the hotel chain as a

prime example of how data and

technology driven companies

can disrupt entrenched indus-

tries such as the hospitality

sector. Britain’s hotel market is

highly fragmented, with small,

independent operators running

half the hotels.

OYO says hotels in its

network will benefit from its

partnerships with Expedia,

Booking.com and other travel

platforms.

OYO said it had hired London

restaurant entrepreneur Jeremy

Sanders, who co-founded and

sold Italian fast-food chain

Coco di Mama, to run its British

business.

By 2020, OYO said it aimed to

hire 100 staff in Britain and off er

5,000 hotel rooms.

Agarwal said OYO would

launch its first two hotels in the

London districts of Edgware

and Ilford next month.

Since its founding in 2013,

OYO has become South Asia’s

largest hotel chain, off ering

211,000 rooms in 349 cities.

OYO has raised $450mn, ac-

cording to Crunchbase data.

Alongside Vision Fund,

other funders include Greenoak

Capital and the Indian arms of

Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed

Venture Partners.

Premier Inn reported turno-

ver of £2.01bn in its latest fiscal

year, off ering nearly 72,500 UK

hotel rooms at the end of 2017.

It aims to have 11% market share

by 2020, up from 6% in 2010.

As trade war escalates, China’s US Treasury holdings back in focusBy Jamie McGeeverLondon

One of the foundations upon which the economic and financial relationship between the United States and China over the past 15 years has been built is the assumption that Beijing won’t sell its vast holdings of US Treasuries.The financial damage to both countries, and the potential fallout beyond the monetary eff ect, would be so profound that it simply wouldn’t happen, so the theory goes.Disregarding this would be the economic superpower equivalent of the Cold War’s ‘mutually assured destruction’ doctrine.But with trade tensions between the two countries escalating dramatically, it may no longer be a total long shot.It’s a scenario being contemplated now

more than at any point in recent years, certainly since August 2015, when fears of a Chinese downturn spooked global markets and prompted a mini currency devaluation from Beijing of around 2.5%.Google news searches in the United States for “China Treasuries” and Google web searches in the United States for “China selling Treasuries” are now both at the highest since August 2015.It is back on the US public’s radar, at least.And if the trade war further escalates, as most observers believe, it won’t be long before it comes back onto the bond market’s radar too.The Trump administration imposed 10% tariff s on $200bn of imports from China this week, and Beijing hit back immediately with tariff s on $60bn of US imports.

However, the pool of US imports China can target is relatively small, so it may opt to weaponise the exchange rate and allow the yuan to fall much more against the dollar than the 10% it has already slid since March.That was before the tariff s, but Beijing has since pledged not to go down the devaluation path to off set their impact.So if China wants to lean against any downward pressure on the yuan, it may have to sell some Treasuries anyway.That leaves its $3.11tn pile of FX reserves, $1.18tn of which is in US Treasuries.It could allow that portfolio to run down, slow or halt further purchases, or go all the way and sell bonds outright.We’ve been here this year already.In January Beijing denied a media report that Chinese off icials had recommended slowing or halting

purchases of US bonds amid a less attractive market for them and the rising trade tensions.“The news could quote the wrong source of information,” said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, adding wryly, “or may be fake news”.The impact on US yields is highly debatable.The US Treasury market is a $15.7tn market so a slower pace of accumulation, no buying at all, or even outright selling from China would be easily absorbed.Some analysts believe market “flow” has zero impact on yields anyway and what really matters is expectations for Fed policy.Others reckon it does, but only at the margins, at best.Brad Setser, a former economist at the US Treasury and an expert on global capital flows, estimates that, all else

remaining equal, China unwinding its entire portfolio could lift the 10-year US yield by 30 basis points initially.Even a 60 bps rise, while painful, would ultimately be bearable, Setser wrote in a paper in June.And Washington has the ultimate ace up its sleeve: “The Fed is the one actor in the world that can buy more than China can ever sell,” he noted.Still, it would be uncharted and potentially dangerous territory.US bonds are coming under pressure as the economy drives ahead and the Fed keeps on raising rates and shrinking its balance sheet.New supply of bonds is soaring as the Treasury issues debt to pay for Trump’s $1.5tn tax cut.The 10-year yield is rising again and back above 3%, a psychological barrier, if nothing else.What’s more, China’s demand for US

bonds probably isn’t as strong as it was.China’s economic boom over the last couple of decades largely relied on the US consumer.The huge surplus was ploughed back into US Treasuries, which built up FX reserves for Beijing but also helped keep US bond yields low, the US economy humming and the US consumer spending.China’s growth is now half what it was pre-crisis and is set to slow further.That growth is arguably now less reliant on exports, and the current account surplus is a fifth of what it was a decade ago.Could China start winding down its US bond portfolio? We may be about to find out.

Jamie McGeever is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed here are his own.

BUSINESS5Gulf Times

Thursday, September 20, 2018

BloombergSingapore

Even with China’s smaller-than-threatened tariff on US natural gas, American cargoes may still

be kryptonite for Chinese traders try-ing to navigate the ongoing trade war.

Chinese buyers will seek to avoid purchasing US liquefi ed natural gas as long as any tariff s are in place because of the risk that duties may rise further and possibly without warning, accord-ing to offi cials from four importers.

While they said they would priori-tise cargoes from other suppliers, they couldn’t entirely rule out buying US shipments.

The offi cials asked not to be identi-fi ed discussing procurement strategy.

China announced Tuesday a 10% tariff on American goods, including LNG, starting September 24 in retali-ation for a similar-sized levy imposed by the US.

That China struck below the 25% duty it threatened last month was met with relief, with gas futures in New York jumping more than 4% while companies that develop US export projects, such as Tellurian Inc and Cheniere Energy Inc, saw their share’s rally.

But the ongoing trade tensions are seen turning off buyers in China, the world’s biggest and fastest-growing natural gas market.

That could go for both taking indi-vidual, or so-called spot, cargoes, as well as tying themselves to projects with long-term spending and supply commitments in the US, where more than a dozen projects are seeking about $139bn in investments.

“For a Chinese buyer, the overall risk profi le for procuring US LNG remains heightened,” Saul Kavonic, Credit Su-isse Group AG’s director of Asia energy research, said by e-mail.“Even with a smaller tariff , there has likely been some longstanding damage done to the perception of reliability of US LNG supply in the eyes of Chinese buyers who will shape the next wave of global LNG projects.”

US LNG sales are linked to the na-tion’s benchmark Henry Hub gas price, which is down about 1% this year, while supply from most other export-ers is tied to oil, which has gained 18% over that period.

That’s made American fuel cheaper

than other sources, an advantage that’s being eroded by tariff s.

China may shift its buying from the

US to other exporters, including Aus-tralia, Qatar and Papua New Guinea, according to Bloomberg Intelligence

analysts Lu Wang and Kunal Agrawal.PetroChina’s parent, China National

Petroleum Corp, signed a deal to buy

US LNG from Cheniere in February.CNPC didn’t respond to requests for

comment.

Gas still a no-go for Chinese buyers despite weaker tariff

India considers dollar window for oil fi rmsReutersNew Delhi

India is considering asking the central bank to off er dol-lars directly to oil marketing

companies or through a state-run bank, a government source said yesterday, as part of steps to stem a fall in the rupee.

As an “extreme” measure, the government could also look at raising dollars by tapping expa-triates to invest in bonds for non-resident Indians, said the source who has direct knowledge of the deliberations over the currency’s fall.

The rupee is Asia’s worst per-forming currency this year.

However, earlier yesterday it posted its strongest intraday gain since May 25 on hopes that oil

companies, which are among the largest buyers of dollars in India, would now direct their demand to the central bank and not the open market.

“We could ask the Reserve Bank of India to earmark $8bn to $10bn a month separately for the public sector oil companies,” the source said, declining to be named as the discussions continue.”As an extreme step, we would be ready to raise dollars through non-res-ident deposits.”

Finance Ministry spokesman DS Malik declined to comment.

The source said proposed re-strictions on the import of non-essential items may have only a limited impact on the falling ru-pee as the current account defi cit continues to widen.

The rupee has depreciated more than 11% this year, closing

at 72.39 yesterday after hitting a record low of 72.99 on Tuesday.

The source said it could fall further once US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports come into force in November, measures which may limit global crude supplies and push up prices.

During a 2013 currency crisis, a separate window for oil com-panies in which the central bank sold dollars to importers on a forward swap basis without lead-ing to a drain down on foreign ex-change reserves helped push up the rupee.

“This is one of the easiest solu-tions that should have been done long back,” said a dealer at a for-eign bank. “Why are the policy-makers waiting for people to bear such huge losses on the currency and not announcing this simple measure?”

Tencent Music seeks $2bn in US IPOReutersHong Kong

Tencent Music Entertain-ment Group, China’s big-gest music-streaming

company, is seeking to raise about $2bn in a US listing, according to three people close to the deal, down from the up to $4bn that had been touted earlier.

The subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings fi led con-fi dentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) two weeks ago, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in what will be one of the biggest listings in New York by a Chinese company this year.

Tencent Music had earlier been seeking to raise between $3bn and $4bn, Thomson Reu-ters publication IFR reported, which would have made it the biggest Chinese fl oat in the United States so far in 2018, ahead of streaming company iQiyi’s $2.42bn IPO in March.

The company then was seek-ing a valuation of about $25bn, according to IFR.

The sources did not disclose whether the now smaller deal related to a lower valuation or fewer shares to be sold.

Tencent said in a statement in Chinese the Reuters report was not accurate.

It did not elaborate or say which part of the report was in-accurate. “Please refer to offi cial statements or announcements by the company for facts relating to the proposed off ering,” it said.

Tencent Music runs the mu-sic service providers QQ Music, KuGou and Kuwo, controlling three-quarters of China’s boom-ing music streaming market.

Users can listen to both Chi-nese and international artists such as Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars.

The fi ling was submitted to the SEC on September 7, accord-ing to two of the people close to the deal.

The sources declined to be named because the information was not public.

The rapid growth in stream-ing music services in recent years has led to a recovery in the fortunes of the global recorded music industry, which enjoyed its third year of positive revenue growth in 2017, according to a report by industry body IFPI.

Tencent Music’s fl oat follows that by Swedish music streaming service Spotify earlier this year as online streaming becomes a bigger part of the recording in-dustry’s revenue.

In December last year, Ten-cent and Spotify agreed a share swap after which Tencent ended up with a 7.5% stake in Spotify, including shares held through Tencent Music, according to the prospectus fi led by Spotify ahead of its own IPO in April.

Tencent Music will be the lat-est in a series of Chinese compa-nies to have tapped US markets this year.

Other groups to have held IPOs include electric vehi-cle start-up NIO Inc – which raised $1bn – and online group discounter Pinduoduo, which raised $1.63bn.

IANSMumbai

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) yesterday liberal-ised some aspects of the

external commercial borrowings (ECBs) policy including those related to rupee-denominated bonds to help check rupee depre-ciation.

“It has been decided to allow eligible ECB borrowers who are into manufacturing sector to raise ECB up to $50mn or its equivalent with minimum average maturity period of 1 year,” the RBI said in a notifi cation.

Till date, ECB up to $50mn or its equivalent could be raised by eligible borrowers with minimum average maturity period of three

years. The decision to revise the minimum average maturity pe-riod of three years to one year was part of the fi ve measures announced by the government last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an economic review meeting. Presently, Indian banks can act as arranger and un-derwriter for rupee denominated bonds (RDBs), also called masala bonds, issued overseas, and their holding cannot be more than 5% of the issue size after six months of issue as an underwriter.

“It has now been decided to permit Indian banks to partici-pate as arrangers/underwriters/market makers/traders in RDBs issued overseas subject to ap-plicable prudential norms,” the central bank said. Last Monday, the government exempted tax on

interest payable by Indian com-panies to non-residents, includ-ing foreign companies, on bor-rowings through off -shore rupee denominated bonds issued till March 31, 2019.

Till now, interest payable on such bonds issued before July 1, 2020 was liable for concessional rate of tax of fi ve per cent.

These steps, which are aimed at raising the foreign exchange infl ow, are part of the multi-pronged strategy to curb cur-rent account defi cit (CAD) and rupee depreciation. Last Friday, after the Prime Minister held the economic review meet, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the government’s fi ve measures and also a broad policy decision to curb non-essential imports and increase exports.

RBI liberalises external commercial borrowing policy to check rupee fall

An executive counts new 2000 Indian rupee notes at a bank in Srinagar. The rupee is Asia’s worst performing currency this year. However, earlier yesterday it posted its strongest intraday gain since May 25 on hopes that oil companies, which are among the largest buyers of dollars in India, would now direct their demand to the central bank and not the open market.

Toshiba Memory chief shrugs off price concerns, sticks with IPO plans

ReutersYokkaichi, Japan

The chief executive of Toshiba Memory Corp, the world’s No 2 producer of NAND flash memory chips, yesterday brushed aside concerns about falling memory chip prices and reaff irmed the company’s plan to go public in two to three years.“Prices fluctuate in the short term to reflect the demand-supply balance,” Toshiba Memory CEO Yasuo Naruke said at a news conference with joint venture partner, Western Digital Corp, to mark the opening of a new production line.“But we are addressing long-term demand” driven by increasing amounts of data storage due to the rise of powerful smartphones and eff icient data centres, he said.Oversupply has weighed on NAND flash memory contract prices, resulting in an average drop of 15% to 20% in the April-June quarter, according to market research firm TrendForce.

Nevertheless, Toshiba Memory and Western Digital started mass production this month at the new line, their fifth, in Yokkaichi in central Japan.The two companies are also building a new memory chip plant in Kitakami in northern Japan.The new production lines will make advanced 3D NAND chips, with a stacked cell structure giving them far more storage capacity than conventional planar chips.Toshiba and Western Digital held a combined 33.8% NAND market share in terms of revenue in the April-June quarter, trailing Samsung Electronics’ 36.4%, according to TrendForce.Naruke said the firm is sticking to its plan to go public “as soon as possible,” adding that it had started preliminary work to prepare for an initial public off ering (IPO).“No changes to our plan, to aim for an IPO in 2-3 years,” Naruke said.Toshiba Corp sold Toshiba Memory in June to a consortium led by Bain Capital LP, which also included Apple Inc,

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, Dell Technologies and Seagate Technology.The deal saw Toshiba reinvest and hold some 40% of the unit.Escalating trade friction between the United States and China is also adding to uncertainty over the flash memory market.Washington plans to impose 10% tariff s on about $200bn worth of Chinese imports from September 24, including some electronic components.“The impact of the first two rounds of tariff s was small, but the latest round could aff ect various set products that use our memory chips,” Naruke said of the trade measures.Western Digital CEO Steve Milligan also voiced concern about the worsening trade tensions, pointing out that some of its products assembled in Shanghai are exported to the US. “We’ll do everything we can to influence things in a positive way, whether it be with the US government or the Chinese government,” Milligan said at the news conference.

PTI mini-budget falls short of tax reforms promised in manifestoInternewsIslamabad

In its election manifesto, the Pa-kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had promised to introduce sweeping tax

reforms to broaden the tax net in the country, but the mini-budget, present-ed yesterday by the PTI government, does not refl ect those promises.

“The PTI will reform the FBR and increase the tax net through a robust tax policy, effi cient tax administration structure and eff ective enforcement mechanism,” reads the manifesto on the party website, adding the party will increase direct taxes to address income inequality.

However, while presenting amend-ments to the budget for fi scal year 2018-2019 in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Asad Umar reversed some of the tax reforms introduced by the last government.

In a major relief to non-fi lers of tax returns, the minister announced to re-move the bar on them on buying expen-sive property in Pakistan.

In previous budget, non-fi lers were barred from buying property worth more than Rs4mn in a bid to encourage them to fi le their tax returns annually as per the law.

Also in its last budget, the previ-ous PML-N government had restricted non-fi lers from buying new motor ve-hicles if their names did not feature in the active taxpayers’ list (ATL) of the FBR.

That restriction too was removed by the PTI. Pakistani law requires all its citizens, whose taxable income for the year exceeds Rs400,000, to fi le income tax returns.

However out of over 200mn popula-tion, only 1.46mn people fi le their re-turns as per the FBR data.

Experts believe the latest PTI con-cessions will hurt the eff orts to increase number of tax fi lers and document economy.

Former fi nance minister Miftah Is-

mail, who presented the last PML-N budget, lashed out at the PTI-intro-duced changes. “In Purana Pakistan, the PTI used to hate indirect taxes and considered them regressive.

In Naya Pakistan, the PTI has taken a U-turn. The PTI government is trying to impose Rs90bn in new indirect taxes.

Taxon mein Tabdeeli aa gayi heh (Change has come in terms of taxes),” he tweeted.

He expressed disappointment over

the move and claimed that the PML-N government was under intense pressure from auto companies and land develop-ers but it didn’t budge. “But today I am sorry to say that automakers have won and Pakistani taxpayers lost,” Miftah tweeted.

However, yesterday, Asad Umar did announce one punishment for non-fi l-ers who will now be subjected to 0.6% withholding tax on banking transac-tions.

While defending the decision to remove the bar on buying expensive property for non-filers, the minister said “a lot of Pakistanis living abroad had complained that the measure pre-vented them from buying property in Pakistan even though they were not even obligated to file taxes in the country.”

However fi nancial experts believe the government could have given proper-ty-related exemption to only overseas

Pakistanis instead of giving relief to all non-tax payers. The PTI manifesto ac-knowledges that Pakistan’s current tax to GDP ratio is signifi cantly less “than the ratio required to sustain our grow-ing fi scal expenditure and to pay-off the massive national debt accumulated over the last decade.”

“Further to which, our tax policies have consistently been suboptimal and as a result have led to decrease in the tax net, disproportionately higher share of indirect taxes (60%) in tax revenue, which adds to income inequality and high average tax rate of 31% for busi-nesses and corporations.”

In its manifesto, the PTI had made the following promise.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 20, 20186

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Asad Umar at a press conference in Islamabad. While presenting amendments to the budget for fiscal year 2018-2019 in the National Assembly, Umar reversed some of the tax reforms introduced by the last government.

ReutersBeijing

A push to expand subway net-works in some of China’s biggest cities along with a

drive to boost broader infrastruc-ture investment in the world’s No 2 economy are helping brighten the outlook for the nation’s mammoth steel sector.

The cities of Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province and Changchun in northeastern Jilin province, as well as Shenzhen in the south, last month announced plans to spend the equiv-alent of billions of dollars boosting their underground systems by a total of around 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles), gobbling up steel as they ex-pand.

While on Tuesday, the top state planner said it would ramp up in-vestment in infrastructure and ac-celerate spending on projects that have already been approved, as the nation tries to spur economic growth amid a festering trade war with Washington.

The steps, which mark a return to Beijing’s traditional playbook for boosting the economy, are good news for steelmakers in the world’s top producer of the material, who

have been grappling with a slowing construction sector and weakening auto sales.

“The approval of the infrastruc-ture spending will surely boost ex-pectations of more steel demand and lead to a price rally in steel,” said Richard Lu, steel analyst at CRU in Beijing.

The three cities’ subway plans will require about 80mn tonnes of the commodity, 10% of China’s annual demand, according to Reuters calcu-lations based on industry standards for subway design, although that will be spread over a few years.

In addition to high-strength steel track, the expansions will also need multiple stations, extensive under-ground building work using rein-forced steel and rail cars made from alloy steel sheet rather than alumini-um used in long-distance trains.

Magang Group, which makes steel that it then uses to produce train wheels, and Ansteel Group, which churns out steel that it uses to make railway tracks, are among the com-panies likely to benefi t from the policy.

They did not respond to requests for comment.

Shares in infrastructure compa-nies rallied on Tuesday after the state planner’s pledge to rev up spending.

The scale of the push to develop infrastructure is unlikely to match the tremendous outlay seen a decade ago when Beijing rushed to protect the economy from the global fi nan-cial crisis.

The government will want to avoid provincial governments piling on debt to fi nance projects or adding more excess industrial capacity.

“The approvals (of infrastructure) are partly aimed at hedging the risk of global trade and ensuring stable growth of the Chinese economy,” said CRU’s Lu.

“The government has already re-alised the risk behind the property market, so infrastructure could be a better measure to stimulate the economy.”

The steps will add further upward momentum to steel prices, even as mills produce record amounts of metal.

The most-active futures for rebar steel used in construction are up over 20% this year as the government curbs outdated excess capacity and heavy industry as part of its war on smog.

“With demand being maintained, steel prices are expected to strength-en as supply cuts play a bigger role,” said Sharon Xia, principal consultant at Wood Mackenzie.

China’s subway splurge could help its steel sector get back on track

Men work on placing a steel switch track section of a rail line connecting Sichuan and Tibet, in Shannan Prefecture. A push to expand subway networks in some of China’s biggest cities along with a drive to boost broader infrastructure investment in the world’s No 2 economy are helping brighten the outlook for the nation’s mammoth steel sector.

Promises in manifesto

Increase FBR’s autonomy by reducing

the influence of finance ministry and will

ensure FBR’s performance is managed.

Champion the shift towards direct

taxation as the primary source of tax

revenue as opposed to indirect taxes.

Incentivise businesses to become a

part of the formal economy, thus add-

ing larger sources of tax income to the

national exchequer.

Champion sustainable initiatives to

reduce taxes on businesses.

Simplify tax assessment rules for

corporations and small businesses.

Integrate tax registration with associ-

ated processes to reduce the transac-

tion cost of paying taxes.

Improve audits by establishing risk

engines and smart algorithms to iden-

tify potential taxpayers for audit.

Improve enforcement through a

robust standardised escalation process

to ensure follow through of every non-

payment.

Publish names of non-compliant

debtors and strongly pursue large tax

evaders.

Crack down on corrupt practices that

promote tax evasion.

Indian billionaire says he’s hungry for acquisitionsBloombergMumbai

Kumar Mangalam Birla, the billionaire chairman of the acquisitive Indian

conglomerate that bears his name, said he’s hungry for more deals after creating the nation’s biggest mobile-phone operator.

His Aditya Birla Group con-tinues to look for targets in the US, Europe and India that make business sense and are likely to add value, the 51-year-old said at Bloomberg’s India Economic Fo-rum on September 18 in Mumbai.

He didn’t specify any names.Birla, who runs a $44bn con-

glomerate that sells everything from insulators to insurance, helps illustrate India’s emer-gence as a mergers-and-ac-quisitions powerhouse, with transactions involving local companies setting records by exceeding $100bn this year – a trend that PwC India predicts will continue in 2019.

One main driver: banks are tackling bad loans by putting companies owned by defaulters on the block.

That’s because the nation’s central bank is pushing local lenders to restructure an es-timated Rs3.6tn ($49.6bn) of soured loans in the wake of a new bankruptcy law implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.

Indian banks, with more than $210bn in stressed debt on their balance sheets, are suff ering from the world’s worst bad-loan ratios after Italy. “This govern-ment is starting to address it and taking the bull by the horns.

Bad loans have been around for a long time and just got brushed under the carpet,” Birla said adding he expects most deal-making action around dis-tressed assets. “That is the low hanging fruit.”

Though he didn’t name tar-gets, Birla’s track record indi-cates he won’t just be spectating the expected fl ood of assets that will be put up for sale.

Birla has the tenacity to go to any lengths if he spots a good quality asset that’s available at a reasonable price, AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capi-tal Market Services Ltd, said by phone. “Once the group turns around one acquisition and free cash fl ow starts, they again go out to buy,” he said.

His companies have carried out about three dozen deals in his chairmanship, with recent one being Birla’s Idea Cellular Ltd’s merger with the local unit of Vodafone Group Plc to create India’s biggest carrier.

In July, his Hindalco Indus-tries Ltd announced the pur-chase of Aleris Corp for about $2.6bn to tap global automotive metal demand.

UltraTech Cement Ltd is also seeking to buy distressed Binani Cement, though that pursuit is in a legal wrangle.

Business, industry offer divergent views on Pakistan’s new budgetary measures

InternewsKarachi

Trade and business representatives in

Pakistan showed cautious optimism while

giving their view on amendments an-

nounced by Finance Minister Asad Umar

to finance bill yesterday.

Some industrialists and businessmen

welcomed the measures which are going

to generate additional revenue of Rs95bn

mainly driven from the upper income

groups. However, some business leaders

were critical of the measures such as

allowing non-filers to purchase vehicles,

real-estate and manifold increase in gas

tariff for the local industry.

Ehsan Malik of Pakistan Business Coun-

cil (PBC) showed his disappointment “at

the blanket withdrawal of the restriction

on non-filers from buying new cars and

real estate above a value of Rs4mn.”

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers

of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) acting

president Waheed Ahmad in a statement

termed the amendments to the finance

bill as moderate.

However, he was critical about increase

in customs duty on more than 5,000

items and increase in regulatory duty (RD)

on more than 900 items.

He suggested that instead of raw mate-

rial government could have increased RD

on luxury items.

However, he appreciated the govern-

ment’s move to ensure provision of ferti-

liser uninterrupted supply of subsidised

fertiliser to farmers at an aff ordable rate.

Waheed also hailed government’s deci-

sion to absorb the impact in petroleum

levy from Rs185bn to Rs300bn and not to

pass it on to masses.

PBC appreciated the mini budget

saying that it was primarily motivated by

a desire to reduce the fiscal deficit but

criticised some measures by highlighting

that the “revenue expediency prevailed

over principle”.

The PBC press release said that it “has

consistently advocated the broadening

of the tax base and the documentation of

the economy” terming the withdrawal on

non-filers from buying new cars and real

estate “retrogressive step”.

However, the council “welcomed the

relief given to five export industries in the

revised gas prices, higher input cost for

the rest of industry runs counter purpose

to encouraging import substitution.”

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Associa-

tion (Sindh-Balochistan Zone) chairman

Asif Inam appreciated separate gas tariff s

for export industry.

He said that the long standing issue of

costly gas for Punjab industry has been

also resolved.

He appreciated the removal of customs

duty on cotton imports adding that

abolishing regulatory duty on raw materi-

als will go a long way in reviving local

industrial activity.

Labsela Chamber of Commerce and

Industry (LCCI) Maqsool Ismail was critical

of the government’s move to increase gas

tariff s for local industry.

He said that the actual gas tariff had

been Rs488 per one million British

Thermal Units (mmbtu) and the previous

government increased it to RS600mmbtu

but the industry got stay order from the

court and gas tariff were kept at Rs488

per mmbtu.

But unfortunately, the PTI government

has soared gas tariff to780mmbtu or

60% increase for the local industry and

this would prove fatal and disastrous for

the industry, he added. This would mean

that industry currently paying Rs488 per

mmbtu and from tomorrow high tariff of

Rs790 will have to be paid.

Shabir Ahmed, patron-in-chief Pakistan

Bedwear Exporters’ Association, was

highly critical of the mini-budget.

He said the Rs5bn relief to export sec-

tor is appreciated but outstanding refunds

of Rs300bn towards sales tax and duty

drawback were totally ignored by the

finance minister.

Pakistan Apparel Forum chairman

Jawed Bilwani hailed the measures an-

nounced today and said that if needed

the government should come up with

more mini-budgets keeping in view the

precarious state of the economy and

deep-rooted issues.

The investors and brokers expressed

mixed reaction to the Finance Supplemen-

tary (Amendment) Bill, 2018 announced

by the Finance Minister Asad Umar in the

National Assembly yesterday.

It came on the heels of the gas price

increase announced a day earlier.

A major brokerage firm termed it as the

“right direction on bumpy road.” Another

observed that the street expectations

revolved around potentially stringent

and belt-tightening measures by the FM

but the actual announcements carried a

populist tone.

Investors were however comforted that

the size of cut in Public Sector Develop-

ment Programme (PSDP) was averted and

kept at Rs725bn, as against Rs661bn in

same period last year.

Although a detractor frowned that it

was comparatively lower than Rs800bn

set by the previous government earlier in

the FY19 budget, most said that the avoid-

ance of trimming down PSDP indicated

future infrastructural developments and

hence would provide support to cement

and steel sectors.

Key deficit curtailment measures

directly related to the equity market

included: the increase in withholding tax

on non-filers on banking transaction to

0.6% from 0.4%, which was thought to be

slightly negative for banking sector.

Removal of the conditions on non-filers

regarding the purchase of new cars

and the increase in federal excise duty

(FED) on imported cars of 1,800cc from

10%-20% were taken as positives for

automobile sector.

Zad Holding CoWidam Food CoVodafone Qatar

United Development CoSalam International Investme

Qatar & Oman Investment CoQatar Navigation

Qatar National Cement CoQatar National Bank

Qatar Islamic InsuranceQatar Industrial Manufactur

Qatar International IslamicQatari Investors Group

Qatar Islamic BankQatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)Qatar General Insurance & ReQatar German Co For Medical

Qatar Fuel QscQatar First Bank

Qatar Electricity & Water CoQatar Exchange Index Etf

Qatar Cinema & Film DistribAl Rayan Qatar Etf

Qatar Insurance CoOoredoo Qpsc

National LeasingMazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev

Mesaieed Petrochemical HoldiAl Meera Consumer Goods Co

Medicare GroupMannai Corporation Qsc

Masraf Al RayanAl Khalij Commercial Bank

Industries QatarIslamic Holding Group

Investment Holding GroupGulf Warehousing Company

Gulf International ServicesEzdan Holding Group

Doha Insurance CoDoha Bank Qpsc

Dlala HoldingCommercial Bank Pqsc

Barwa Real Estate CoAl Khaleej Takaful Group

Aamal Co

103.75

73.00

8.70

14.49

5.02

6.10

67.99

56.50

175.00

52.00

42.00

57.44

30.60

136.01

17.70

48.80

5.05

149.50

5.11

191.90

97.40

16.51

23.50

39.40

68.90

9.02

6.90

16.35

151.88

66.00

57.48

38.06

11.00

122.95

27.00

5.42

39.61

16.99

10.10

13.89

23.70

12.46

39.00

37.55

9.60

9.63

2.22

1.39

-0.57

1.19

-1.18

0.99

-0.09

0.00

0.00

0.97

0.00

-0.03

1.12

0.08

0.17

-0.41

0.60

-0.99

-0.58

0.05

-0.36

0.00

-2.00

5.91

-1.29

-1.10

0.00

1.11

0.11

-1.43

0.19

-0.83

0.00

-0.04

2.82

-1.45

-0.03

-1.62

0.10

0.00

-0.21

-0.88

-1.27

0.67

-0.10

0.10

14,130

15,003

404,648

203,323

114,693

35,646

23,832

9,285

238,790

28,532

500

40,049

36,500

44,044

154,263

11,907

5,010

96,757

76,167

14,950

622

-

2,807

656,924

166,677

143,593

55,128

1,005,615

3,392

76,028

2,500

145,892

6,480

168,031

510

96,958

15,769

186,560

127,297

-

78,230

36,985

444,936

553,618

8,526

6,718

QATAR

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

United Wire Factories CompanEtihad Etisalat Co

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate DevAlawwal Bank

Rabigh Refining And PetrocheBanque Saudi Fransi

Saudi Enaya Cooperative InsuMediterranean & Gulf Insuran

Saudi British BankRed Sea International Co

Takween Advanced IndustriesSabb Takaful

Saudi Arabian Fertilizer CoNational GypsumSaudi Ceramic Co

National Gas & IndustrializaSaudi Pharmaceutical Industr

ThimarNational Industrialization C

Batic Investments And LogistSaudi Electricity Co

Saudi Arabia Refineries CoArriyadh Development Company

Al-Baha Development & InvestSaudi Research And MarketingAldrees Petroleum And Transp

Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe CoJarir Marketing Co

Arab National BankYanbu National Petrochemical

Arabian CementMiddle East Specialized Cabl

Al Khaleej Training And EducAl Sagr Co-Operative Insuran

Trade Union Cooperative InsuArabia Insurance Cooperative

Saudi Chemical CompanyFawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C

Bupa Arabia For CooperativeWafa Insurance

Jabal Omar Development CoSaudi Basic Industries Corp

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical CoEtihad Atheeb Telecommunicat

Co For Cooperative InsuranceNational Petrochemical Co

Gulf Union Cooperative InsurGulf General Cooperative Ins

Basic Chemical IndustriesSaudi Steel Pipe Co

Buruj Cooperative InsuranceMouwasat Medical Services Co

Southern Province Cement CoMaadaniyah

Yamama Cement CoJazan Energy And Development

Zamil Industrial InvestmentAlujain Corporation (Alco)

Tabuk Agricultural DevelopmeUnited Co-Operative Assuranc

Qassim Cement/TheSaudi Advanced Industries

Kingdom Holding CoSaudi Arabian Amiantit Co

Al Jouf Agriculture DevelopmSaudi Industrial Development

Riyad BankThe National Agriculture Dev

Halwani Bros CoArabian Pipes Co

Eastern Province Cement CoAl Gassim Investment Holding

Filing & Packing Materials MSaudi Cable Co

Tihama Advertising & PublicSaudi Investment Bank/The

Astra Industrial GroupSaudi Public Transport Co

Taiba Holding CoSaudi Industrial Export Co

Saudi Real Estate CoSaudia Dairy & Foodstuff Co

National Shipping Co Of/TheMethanol Chemicals Co

Chubb Arabia Cooperative InsMobile Telecommunications Co

Saudi Arabian Coop Ins CoAxa Cooperative Insurance

Alsorayai GroupBank Albilad

Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker CoWataniya Insurance Co

Abdullah Al Othaim MarketsHail Cement

Saudi Re For Cooperative ReiSolidarity Saudi Takaful Co

Amana Cooperative InsuranceAlabdullatif Industrial Inv

Saudi Printing & Packaging CSaudi Paper Manufacturing Co

Alinma BankAlmarai Co

Falcom Saudi Equity EtfUnited International Transpo

Hsbc Amanah Saudi 20 EtfSaudi International Petroche

Falcom Petrochemical EtfWalaa Cooperative Insurance

15.62

18.36

9.50

14.10

22.60

31.85

20.98

13.20

31.60

15.50

10.28

18.88

79.50

12.88

17.22

26.60

31.50

26.20

18.86

35.90

16.20

40.35

15.98

15.02

100.80

27.20

48.50

180.00

31.90

71.20

19.00

7.23

12.22

12.22

22.26

20.70

32.90

23.68

103.00

11.22

39.70

119.40

16.50

5.35

54.90

26.65

13.48

13.58

22.30

21.20

24.48

77.40

32.95

18.40

13.70

15.36

19.90

30.55

10.18

11.34

31.75

12.50

8.55

5.75

22.88

8.35

16.00

31.75

48.00

10.18

19.96

10.54

37.10

22.90

39.70

17.90

17.10

14.40

29.70

211.20

14.44

89.00

31.90

11.26

18.96

6.16

12.10

22.36

12.28

24.44

8.49

23.60

67.00

7.89

6.93

16.66

16.20

10.92

16.20

11.70

20.86

48.10

30.10

27.35

31.00

19.96

34.10

23.74

0.77

2.23

3.04

0.00

3.01

-0.47

7.59

3.13

-1.71

-2.52

0.00

0.00

3.11

2.38

-0.81

0.76

3.11

0.19

0.11

-0.69

1.38

0.75

1.40

1.49

0.80

-0.55

6.13

1.69

-1.24

0.42

-0.52

-0.41

-0.49

1.16

0.72

0.98

1.23

-0.08

3.00

-3.11

3.66

0.67

1.98

0.00

3.20

1.14

-0.88

1.34

0.36

-0.84

1.83

-1.02

-0.30

1.10

-0.72

-0.90

-0.50

0.49

1.19

0.71

0.47

0.32

0.59

-0.17

0.35

0.60

1.27

-1.40

2.13

0.20

-0.20

0.57

0.00

-1.63

1.79

-0.11

-0.12

0.42

-0.83

0.28

0.98

-0.22

0.79

1.08

0.85

0.65

0.00

2.10

-0.16

-0.08

0.71

0.00

0.30

-0.13

1.02

2.84

8.29

-2.50

1.25

-0.85

1.56

-0.21

2.03

0.92

0.00

2.15

0.00

0.17

22,591

2,488,673

17,813,093

956,418

1,528,012

901,685

999,207

491,225

392,503

352,707

540,100

172,255

523,481

64,869

144,714

21,539

79,838

216,446

1,449,406

77,716

2,091,803

175,260

199,768

271,170

40,025

160,618

48,566

39,818

124,465

248,848

261,618

281,509

387,901

315,626

145,218

330,950

90,265

406,010

102,020

969,403

1,451,132

2,582,858

13,006,525

-

859,953

97,785

231,945

87,699

23,072

321,515

206,851

112,778

140,118

20,708

58,705

97,429

62,481

279,127

357,431

152,448

27,737

64,489

135,313

558,323

9,588

76,726

626,454

34,391

49,428

355,980

23,185

66,557

65,010

124,681

109,169

14,784

70,427

772,118

13,882

36,127

931,562

114,764

1,802,078

4,833,560

58,307

1,952,114

110,913

125,164

398,725

663,165

351,793

66,405

65,582

80,230

272,121

191,548

1,254,673

166,916

176,679

347,312

14,645,899

382,790

119,152

743,570

2

798,601

-

298,884

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Bank Al-JaziraAl Rajhi Bank

Samba Financial GroupUnited Electronics Co

Allied Cooperative InsuranceMalath Insurance

Alinma Tokio MarineArabian Shield Cooperative

SavolaWafrah For Industry And Deve

Fitaihi Holding GroupTourism Enterprise Co/ Shams

Sahara Petrochemical CoHerfy Food Services Co

Saudi Ind Investment GroupSalama Cooperative Insurance

Emaar Economic CityAlahli Takaful Co

Anaam International HoldingSaudi Telecom Co

Al Alamiya Cooperative InsurSaudi Industrial Services Co

Al-Ahsa Development Co.National Co For Glass In/The

Dur Hospitality CoTabuk Cement Co

SascoSaudi Cement

Aseer Trading Tourism & ManuNama Chemicals Co

Saudi Arabian Mining CoYanbu Cement Co

13.98

83.10

30.35

50.90

17.20

12.22

18.98

18.30

30.00

15.44

11.66

31.95

16.82

42.65

26.90

16.98

9.78

24.70

10.72

81.90

35.00

13.16

10.10

18.16

19.80

11.64

15.38

39.30

10.02

24.50

49.65

20.06

1.16

1.47

2.88

1.70

-0.92

0.49

0.53

1.67

3.09

9.97

1.22

2.90

1.08

-0.81

2.67

0.95

1.88

0.49

1.13

0.00

0.00

0.46

1.61

1.00

1.54

3.19

2.40

0.00

0.70

0.00

1.53

-0.20

2,736,907

1,767,298

1,630,930

529,171

46,204

448,779

81,313

280,055

324,603

237,356

59,415

257,026

734,444

93,638

1,040,840

907,845

3,790,683

41,660

377,223

157,160

94,911

65,355

184,186

29,368

229,784

137,550

150,894

40,943

75,438

140,386

341,802

198,471

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Sultan Center Food ProductsKuwait Foundry Co Sak

Kuwait Financial Centre SakAjial Real Estate Entmt

Kuwait Finance & InvestmentNational Industries Co Ksc

Kuwait Real Estate Holding CSecurities House/The

Boubyan Petrochemicals CoAl Ahli Bank Of Kuwait

Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)National Bank Of Kuwait

Commercial Bank Of KuwaitKuwait International Bank

Gulf BankAl-Massaleh Real Estate Co

Al Arabiya Real Estate CoKuwait Remal Real Estate Co

A’ayan Real Estate Co SakInvestors Holding Group Co.K

Al-Mazaya Holding CoAl-Madar Finance & Invt CoGulf Petroleum Investment

Mabanee Co SakcInovest Co Bsc

Al-Deera Holding CoMena Real Estate Co

Amar Finance & Leasing CoUnited Projects For Aviation

National Consumer Holding CoAmwal International InvestmeEquipment Holding Co K.S.C.C

Arkan Al Kuwait Real EstateGfh Financial Group Bsc

Energy House Holding Co KscpKuwait Co For Process PlantAl Maidan Dental Clinic Co KNational Shooting CompanyAl-Ahleia Insurance Co Sakp

Wethaq Takaful Insurance CoSalbookh Trading Co Kscp

Aqar Real Estate InvestmentsHayat Communications

Soor Fuel Marketing Co KscTamkeen Holding Co

Burgan Co For Well DrillingKuwait Resorts Co KsccOula Fuel Marketing Co

Palms Agro Production CoMubarrad Holding Co Ksc

Shuaiba Industrial CoAan Digital Services Co

First Takaful Insurance CoKuwaiti Syrian Holding Co

National Cleaning CompanyUnited Real Estate Company

AgilityKuwait & Middle East Fin Inv

Fujairah Cement IndustriesLivestock Transport & Tradng

International Resorts CoNational Industries Grp Hold

Warba Insurance CoFirst Dubai Real Estate Deve

Al Arabi Group Holding CoMobile Telecommunications Co

Eff ect Real Estate CoTamdeen Real Estate Co KscAl Mudon Intl Real Estate Co

Kuwait Cement Co KscSharjah Cement & Indus Devel

Kuwait Portland Cement CoEducational Holding Group

Asiya Capital Investments CoKuwait Investment Co

Burgan BankKuwait Projects Co Holdings

Al Madina For Finance And InKuwait Insurance Co

Al Masaken Intl Real EstateIntl Financial Advisors

First Investment Co KsccAl Mal Investment Company

Bayan Investment Co KsccEgypt Kuwait Holding Co Sae

Coast Investment DevelopmentPrivatization Holding Compan

Injazzat Real State CompanyKuwait Cable Vision Sak

Sanam Real Estate Co KsccIthmaar Holding Bsc

Aviation Lease And Finance CArzan Financial Group For Fi

Ajwan Gulf Real Estate CoKuwait Business Town Real Es

Future Kid Entertainment AndSpecialities Group Holding C

Abyaar Real Eastate DevelopmKgl Logistics Company Kscc

Combined Group ContractingJiyad Holding Co Ksc

Boubyan Intl Industries HoldGulf Investment House Ksc

Boubyan Bank K.S.CAhli United Bank B.S.C

Osos Holding Group CoAl-Eid Food Ksc

Qurain Petrochemical IndustrEkttitab Holding Co Sak

Real Estate Trade Centers CoAcico Industries Co Kscc

Kipco Asset Management CoNational Petroleum Services

Alimtiaz Investment GroupRas Al Khaimah White Cement

Kuwait Reinsurance Co KscKuwait & Gulf Link Transport

Humansoft Holding Co KscAutomated Systems Co Kscc

Metal & Recycling CoGulf Franchising Holding Co

Al-Enma’a Real Estate CoNational Mobile Telecommuni

Unicap Investment And FinancAl Salam Group Holding Co

Al Aman Investment CompanyMashaer Holding Co Ksc

Manazel HoldingTijara And Real Estate Inves

Jazeera Airways Co KscCommercial Real Estate Co

National International CoTaameer Real Estate Invest C

Gulf Cement CoHeavy Engineering And Ship B

National Real Estate CoAl Safat Energy Holding Comp

Kuwait National Cinema CoDanah Alsafat Foodstuff Co

57.00

195.00

104.00

143.00

41.10

176.00

30.90

49.70

1,065.00

296.00

298.00

829.00

500.00

242.00

251.00

39.90

30.20

33.00

61.00

13.40

74.90

132.00

25.60

642.00

86.80

18.00

24.20

39.00

680.00

0.00

63.70

29.90

80.00

100.00

27.70

246.00

1,220.00

16.10

427.00

26.10

47.30

62.10

40.00

121.00

10.50

112.00

55.80

119.00

80.00

59.40

220.00

19.00

44.50

34.00

56.90

65.00

838.00

31.40

65.50

213.00

21.00

162.00

84.00

38.40

62.50

476.00

20.00

0.00

28.50

370.00

77.00

1,050.00

310.00

35.10

120.00

255.00

220.00

25.10

325.00

50.00

24.60

42.80

18.90

50.00

346.00

30.90

59.70

83.00

10.00

49.00

30.70

331.00

27.90

22.20

50.70

100.00

74.00

18.50

42.90

390.00

89.50

27.00

17.50

541.00

210.00

92.00

70.00

330.00

23.90

22.00

208.00

62.00

815.00

127.00

81.00

0.00

98.70

3,300.00

119.00

68.00

60.00

31.10

765.00

60.20

32.50

47.00

44.50

32.20

54.50

730.00

75.60

67.00

30.00

76.00

509.00

103.00

28.50

1,030.00

45.00

0.88

0.00

0.00

-0.69

-8.67

0.00

0.00

-0.20

3.00

0.00

-0.33

-0.12

0.00

-0.82

-0.79

-0.25

-1.95

-2.94

0.00

-1.47

2.60

7.32

-0.39

-1.38

0.35

2.86

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.67

-1.72

0.50

9.92

1.65

1.67

-5.29

2.89

-5.09

1.50

0.00

-42.03

0.00

-16.67

0.00

0.00

-0.83

0.00

1.54

-2.22

-2.06

0.00

0.00

0.71

0.00

-0.71

0.00

0.00

-3.18

0.00

-0.61

5.00

-6.34

-3.85

-0.63

0.00

0.00

-1.72

0.00

0.00

-0.94

0.00

-2.50

-0.83

-1.54

-0.90

-0.79

0.00

6.84

0.41

-1.61

5.00

0.00

0.00

1.31

-0.17

0.00

-17.36

0.00

-0.32

-0.60

0.00

0.91

-0.59

0.00

2.78

3.35

0.00

1.30

-1.65

0.00

-0.57

-1.64

2.44

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.63

-9.84

0.00

-4.62

0.00

1.60

0.00

0.00

4.22

0.00

-9.85

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.65

0.33

-1.22

-2.08

0.91

5.57

0.00

0.14

0.13

0.00

11.94

0.00

1.80

-1.90

0.71

0.00

2.27

100

5,002

30,804

149,586

89,500

2,381

20,600

572,055

842,267

198,537

451,822

5,139,566

31,985

2,282,150

824,029

5,060,681

400,572

50,100

500

2,571,886

8,077

3,412,662

583,354

203,990

16,510

10

260,521

800

6,338

-

17,100

12,006

23,100

480,068

100

156,674

27,744

141,095

32,386

429,450

30

6,282

3,248

133,269

155,000

3,200

1,752,917

3,719

10,380

100

4,000

382,000

8,000

97,200

141,983

57,099

1,758,086

26,000

80,529

41,500

108,845

4,943,564

19,084

230,000

50,000

2,012,873

20

-

5,000

500

15,985

49,580

24,002

625,970

160,000

2,295,866

408,849

5,958

10,000

40

323,091

82,200

6,450,307

3,586

20,000

267,207

17,443

23,035

8,357

5

2,725,036

53,704

9,074

1,980,250

200,010

813

1,145,069

3,982,380

990,139

49,323

2,122,147

130,363

270,023

1,980,997

13,591,485

5,000

5,000

311,512

160,003

37,800

12,052

18,700

4,100

1,280,489

6,982

-

463,136

277,247

887

25

6

245,000

30,635

10,000

12,000

109,241

57,350

557,098

104,825

187,855

2,605,126

50

101,320,662

85,000

618,062

1,006,175

10

1

110,549

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Voltamp Energy SaogVision Insurance Saoc

United Power/Energy Co- PrefUnited Power Co Saog

United Finance CoUbar Hotels & Resorts

Takaful OmanTaageer FinanceSweets Of OmanSohar Power Co

Sohar PoultrySmn Power Holding Saog

Shell Oman Marketing - PrefShell Oman Marketing

Sharqiyah Desalination Co SaSembcorp Salalah Power & Wat

Salalah Port ServicesSalalah Mills Co

Salalah Beach Resort SaogSahara Hospitality

Renaissance Services SaogRaysut Cement Co

Phoenix Power Co SaocPackaging Co Ltd

OoredooOminvest

Oman United Insurance CoOman Telecommunications Co

Oman Refreshment CoOman Qatar Insurance Co

Oman PackagingOman Oil Marketing Company

Oman National Engineering AnOman Investment & Finance

Oman Intl MarketingOman Flour Mills

Oman Fisheries CoOman Europe Foods Industries

Oman Education & Training InOman Chromite

Oman ChlorineOman Ceramic Company

Oman Cement CoOman Cables Industry

Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%Natl Aluminium Products

National SecuritiesNational Real Estate Develop

National PharmaceuticalNational Mineral Water

National Life & General InsuNational Gas Co

National Finance CoNational Detergent Co Saog

National Biscuit IndustriesNational Bank Of Oman Saog

Muscat Thread Mills CoMuscat Insurance Co Saog

Muscat Gases Company SaogMuscat Finance

Muscat City Desalination CoMajan Glass Company

Majan CollegeHsbc Bank Oman

Hotels Management Co InternaGulf Stone

Gulf Mushroom CompanyGulf Investments Services

Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-SharGulf International Chemicals

Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co LtdGlobal Fin Investment

Galfar Engineering&ContractGalfar Engineering -Prefer

Financial Services Co.Financial Corp/The

Dhofar TourismDhofar Poultry

Dhofar Intl DevelopmentDhofar Insurance

Dhofar Fisheries & Food InduDhofar Cattlefeed

Dhofar Beverages CoConstruction Materials Ind

Computer Stationery IndsBankmuscat Saog

Bank SoharBank Nizwa

Bank Dhofar SaogAloula Co

Al-Omaniya Financial ServiceAl-Hassan Engineering Co

Al-Fajar Al-Alamia CoAl-Anwar Ceramic Tiles Co

Al Suwadi PowerAl Sharqiya Invest Holding

Al Maha Petroleum Products MAl Maha Ceramics Co Saoc

0.30

0.15

1.00

3.44

0.10

0.13

0.13

0.10

0.55

0.11

0.21

0.60

1.05

1.49

2.75

0.22

0.60

0.77

1.38

2.38

0.41

0.46

0.12

2.21

0.53

0.34

0.31

0.85

1.75

0.11

0.28

1.10

0.17

0.10

0.52

0.74

0.09

1.00

0.21

3.64

0.32

0.42

0.36

1.00

0.13

0.38

0.04

5.00

0.12

0.10

0.34

0.34

0.13

0.70

3.75

0.18

0.08

0.80

0.28

0.09

0.14

0.18

0.45

0.12

1.25

0.12

0.31

0.10

0.11

0.20

9.50

0.09

0.11

0.39

0.18

0.10

0.49

0.18

0.28

0.14

1.28

0.17

0.26

0.03

0.26

0.39

0.13

0.09

0.16

0.53

0.28

0.03

0.75

0.09

0.12

0.10

0.86

0.21

0.00

-1.33

0.00

0.00

-1.04

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.71

0.00

0.00

0.76

0.00

0.00

-0.93

0.00

-3.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.10

0.53

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.83

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.13

0.00

1.53

0.00

0.00

0.95

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.08

-0.82

0.00

0.00

0.00

-

103,822

-

-

22,100

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,466

-

-

110,738

8,000

14,444

-

68,332

-

1,610

118,941

-

50,000

-

-

-

35,928

-

-

424,955

-

-

-

-

-

26,350

-

28,466

80,669

-

-

-

-

6,000

-

-

-

-

139,658

-

1,365

4,964

164,800

-

-

-

63,094

-

-

-

572,892

-

6,000

-

-

633,221

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,556,861

106,245

273,177

606,013

-

-

-

-

171,419

21,994

-

111,719

1,066

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Al Madina Takaful Co SaocAl Madina Investment Co

Al Kamil Power CoAl Jazerah Services -Pfd

Al Jazeera Steel Products CoAl Jazeera Services

Al Izz Islamic BankAl Buraimi Hotel

Al Batinah PowerAl Batinah Hotels

Al Batinah Dev & InvAl Anwar Holdings Saog

Al Ahlia Insurance Co SaocAhli Bank

Acwa Power Barka SaogAbrasives Manufacturing Co S

A’saff a Foods Saog0Man Oil Marketing Co-Pref

#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

0.10

0.04

0.38

0.55

0.28

0.11

0.09

0.88

0.12

1.13

0.09

0.12

0.36

0.16

0.78

0.05

0.61

0.25

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-4.55

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.81

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.55

-0.64

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

264,000

384,700

-

-

4,323

10,500

64,677

-

26,751

-

-

21,405

7,370

1,470,205

2,500

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Waha Capital PjscUnited Insurance Company

United Arab Bank PjscUnion National Bank/Abu Dhab

Union Insurance CoUnion Cement Co

Umm Al Qaiwain General InvesSudan Telecommunications Gro

Sharjah Islamic BankSharjah Insurance Company

Sharjah GroupSharjah Cement & Indus DevelRas Al-Khaimah National Insu

Ras Al Khaimah White CementRas Al Khaimah Ceramics

Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co PscRas Al Khaima Poultry

Rak PropertiesOoredoo Qpsc

Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%National Takaful Company

National Marine Dredging CoNational Investor Co/The

National Corp Tourism & HoteNational Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw

National Bank Of Ras Al-KhaiNational Bank Of Fujairah

Methaq Takaful InsuranceManazel Real Estate Pjsc

Invest BankIntl Holdings Co Pjsc

Insurance HouseGulf Pharmaceutical Ind Psc

Gulf Medical ProjectsGulf Cement Co

Fujairah Cement IndustriesFujairah Building Industries

Foodco Holding PjscFirst Abu Dhabi Bank Pjsc

Finance HouseEshraq Properties Co Pjsc

Emirates Telecom Group CoEmirates Insurance Co. (Psc)

Emirates Driving CompanyDana Gas

Commercial Bank InternationaBank Of Sharjah

Axa Green Crescent InsuranceArkan Building Materials Co

Alkhaleej InvestmentAldar Properties Pjsc

Al Wathba National InsuranceAl Qudra Holding Pjsc

Al Khazna Insurance CoAl Fujairah National Insuran

Al Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.Al Buhaira National Insuranc

Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.Agthia Group Pjsc

Abu Dhabi Ship Building CoAbu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi

Abu Dhabi National Takaful CAbu Dhabi National Oil Co Fo

Abu Dhabi National InsuranceAbu Dhabi National Hotels

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co

1.87

2.00

1.25

4.92

2.03

0.00

1.00

0.46

1.20

2.84

1.30

0.93

3.20

0.95

2.39

0.70

1.89

0.61

72.90

0.50

0.54

2.85

0.58

1.95

2.50

4.29

2.96

0.77

0.43

2.35

1.19

0.85

2.20

1.98

0.93

1.20

1.56

3.35

14.22

1.68

0.56

16.00

6.50

7.40

1.13

0.63

1.07

0.50

0.54

2.10

1.78

12.76

1.05

0.25

300.00

3.85

2.21

38.00

4.78

1.19

0.43

4.40

2.38

3.75

2.70

1.13

2.19

0.00

0.00

-1.80

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

6.22

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.96

4.90

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.63

-4.44

11.90

0.85

0.00

2.33

0.00

0.98

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.00

-2.95

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.37

0.00

-0.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.42

0.00

0.00

0.00

111,434

-

-

1,134,500

-

-

-

87,231

-

-

-

-

-

-

8,750

-

-

539,119

-

525

50,000

-

-

-

-

503,207

-

27,500

6,431,231

257,701

11,600

-

2,681

-

100,000

-

-

-

1,445,366

-

1,393,000

1,063,290

-

-

8,828,634

-

128,174

-

71,500

-

7,565,756

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

3,125

-

-

-

134,809

-

-

1,026,301

UAE

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zain Bahrain BsccUnited Paper Industries Bsc

United Gulf Holding BscTrafco Group Bsc

Takaful International CoSeef Properties

National Bank Of Bahrain BscNass Corp Bsc

Khaleeji Commercial BankIthmaar Holding Bsc

Investcorp Bank -$UsInovest Co Bsc

Gulf Hotel Group B.S.CGfh Financial Group Bsc

Esterad Investment Co B.S.C.Eskan Bank Realty Income Tr

Delmon Poultry CoBmmi Bsc

Bbk BscBahrain Telecom Co

Bahrain National HoldingBahrain Kuwait Insurance

Bahrain Islamic BankBahrain Flour Mills Co

Bahrain Duty Free ComplexBahrain Commercial Facilitie

Bahrain Cinema CoArab Banking Corp Bsc-$Us

Aluminium Bahrain BscAlbaraka Banking Group

Al-Salam BankAhli United Bank B.S.C

#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

#N/A

0.00

0.00

1.12

0.32

0.09

0.22

0.61

0.10

0.08

0.11

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.37

0.00

0.10

0.00

0.72

0.44

0.25

0.38

0.00

0.12

0.00

0.71

0.75

`

0.40

0.63

0.28

0.10

0.67

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.91

0.81

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

9.68

0.00

0.00

1.82

-0.97

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-

-

1,500

100,250

166,491

10,000

22,670

106,000

20,000

5,130,000

-

-

-

6,713,445

-

100,000

-

5,000

120,000

202,245

20,000

-

76,672

-

146,800

190,000

9,998

164,289

62,869

274,427

390,000

1,908,654

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

BAHRAIN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Independent Petroleum GroupKuwait Real Estate Co Ksc

Salhia Real Estate Co KscGulf Cable & Electrical Ind

Kuwait Finance HouseGulf North Africa Holding Co

Hilal Cement CoOsoul Investment Kscc

Gulf Insurance Group KscUmm Al Qaiwain General Inves

Aayan Leasing & InvestmentAlrai Media Group Co KscNational Investments CoCommercial Facilities CoYiaco Medical Co. K.S.C.C

Munshaat Real Estate ProjectNoor Financial Investment Co

Al Tamdeen Investment CoCredit Rating & Collection

Ifa Hotels & Resorts Co. K.SSokouk Holding Co Sak

Warba Bank KscpViva Kuwait Telecom Co

Mezzan Holding Co Kscc#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

439.00

46.30

328.00

386.00

0.00

49.90

112.00

53.30

630.00

58.80

35.70

56.90

84.90

179.00

128.00

110.00

52.00

300.00

21.50

92.90

46.40

233.00

718.00

685.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.43

0.00

0.52

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.63

0.00

-0.83

-0.18

-0.12

2.87

0.00

0.92

1.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.27

0.56

-2.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

500

2,298,340

305,600

30,987

-

311,560

40

18,356

3,511

714

1,854,211

34,001

14,244

367

297

8,004

111,200

5,100

481

239

350,715

1,438,085

52,345

91,855

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

Gulf Times Thursday, September 20, 2018

BUSINESS7

CURRENCIESDOLLAR QATAR RIYAL SAUDI RIYAL UAE DIRHAMS BAHRAINI

DINARKUWAITI

DINAR

European markets extend gains on trade talk hopesReutersLondon

A rally in European shares extended for a second day yesterday thanks to gains in trade-sensitive min-

ing and autos stocks as investors saw a China-US trade war approaching its endgame.

The STOXX 600 and leading euro-zone stocks both rose 0.3% to two-week highs with sentiment buoyed by hopes that the United States and China will return to the negotiating table after the latest tariff round.

Washington and Beijing both an-nounced fresh tariff s on reciprocal im-ports this week, though the measures were less severe than initially expected, bolstering hopes of a deal.

“Our base-case scenario sees both parties negotiating a settlement in the next 6-9 months,” Credit Suisse strate-gists said in their daily note to clients.

Caution however remained, with some investors still wary that US Presi-dent Donald Trump could seek to extend tariff s to all Chinese imports.

Earlier yesterday, Chinese Premier

Li Keqiang said his country would not engage in competitive currency devalu-ation and would not weaken the yuan to boost exports.

Basic materials were the biggest sec-toral gainer, up 3.1%, after copper prices rose sharply as investors shrugged off the risks of an escalation of the US-China trade row.

It was the sector’s best day in two months.

Heavyweight miners Antofagasta and Anglo American rose 5.9% and 5.1% re-spectively.

Financials also provided support, al-though Danske Bank fell 3.4% following the resignation of its CEO and an up-dated on a money laundering probe that prompted the bank to cut its full-year outlook.

MERGER Progress in the planned merger between Linde and Praxair drove shares in the German industrial gases group up 7.8%, a top STOXX gainer.

A source said Linde was set to sell ad-ditional assets to a consortium of Messer Group GmbH and CVC Capital Partners for about $200mn, moving closer to US antitrust approval for the deal.

Belgian biopharma fi rm Argenx sank 11.8% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after a share off ering.

Argenx off ered 3.5mn American De-positary Shares at a 0.9% discount to Tuesday’s close, for a gross raise of $300mn.

Elsewhere earnings updates drove share price moves.

Adecco fell 6.2% after the world’s largest staffi ng fi rm said it has seen a slowdown in growth so far in the third quarter.

Its fall also weighed Dutch peer Randstad down 5.1%. RBC Capital said Adecco’s slowdown was bad news but added that the stock’s valuation was cheap and that the company’s end markets remained relatively robust.

Kingfi sher reported a 15% fall in half-year profi ts, sending its shares down 6.3%. A solid update however lifted German automotive parts maker Schaeffl er up 3%. The company kept its guidance for overall sales this year thanks to stronger orders at its indus-trial division.

Its gains helped the autos sector, which has been penalised this year by growing trade concerns, rise 1.5%.

A trader monitors financial data at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The STOXX 600 and leading eurozone stocks both rose 0.3% to two-week highs yesterday with sentiment buoyed by hopes that the United States and China will return to the negotiating table after the latest tariff round.

BUSINESS8 Gulf Times

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Apple IncMicrosoft Corp

Exxon Mobil CorpJohnson & JohnsonGeneral Electric Co

Jpmorgan Chase & CoProcter & Gamble Co/The

Walmart IncVerizon Communications Inc

Pfizer IncVisa Inc-Class A Shares

Chevron CorpCoca-Cola Co/The

Intel CorpMerck & Co. Inc.

Cisco Systems IncHome Depot Inc

Intl Business Machines CorpWalt Disney Co/The

Unitedhealth Group Inc3M Co

Mcdonald’s CorpNike Inc -Cl B

United Technologies CorpBoeing Co/The

Goldman Sachs Group IncAmerican Express Co

Caterpillar IncTravelers Cos Inc/The

217.34

111.89

84.34

140.56

12.88

117.06

84.20

95.69

53.88

43.36

147.72

119.71

46.08

46.07

70.44

47.27

212.36

149.88

110.11

264.65

213.11

158.77

84.99

140.31

369.10

234.28

110.17

0.00

152.77

133.05

-0.41

-1.17

0.85

0.01

1.70

2.41

0.24

0.27

-0.95

-0.34

0.06

1.34

0.33

-0.07

0.03

-0.40

0.64

0.89

0.53

0.52

0.75

0.63

-0.32

0.52

1.52

2.35

0.48

0.00

2.48

1.28

14,149,854

9,073,509

3,084,729

1,669,279

26,345,877

6,597,697

2,205,716

1,671,445

5,672,004

8,827,717

2,157,720

1,664,804

2,416,573

6,433,345

2,211,713

4,438,584

946,617

1,458,651

1,745,262

812,492

560,181

1,024,717

2,945,889

1,167,368

2,090,093

1,432,528

781,042

-

2,639,596

471,575

DJIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Wpp PlcWorldpay Group Plc

Wolseley PlcWm Morrison Supermarkets

Whitbread PlcVodafone Group Plc

United Utilities Group PlcUnilever Plc

Tui Ag-DiTravis Perkins Plc

Tesco PlcTaylor Wimpey Plc

Standard Life PlcStandard Chartered Plc

St James’s Place PlcSse Plc

Smith & Nephew PlcSky Plc

Shire PlcSevern Trent Plc

Schroders PlcSainsbury (J) Plc

Sage Group Plc/TheAbi Sab Group Holding Ltd

Rsa Insurance Group PlcRoyal Mail Plc

Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B ShsRoyal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs

Royal Bank Of Scotland GroupRolls-Royce Holdings Plc

Rio Tinto PlcRexam Ltd

Relx PlcReckitt Benckiser Group Plc

Randgold Resources LtdPrudential Plc

Provident Financial PlcPersimmon Plc

Pearson PlcPaddy Power Betfair Plc

Old Mutual PlcNext Plc

National Grid PlcMondi Plc

Merlin EntertainmentMediclinic International Plc

Marks & Spencer Group PlcLondon Stock Exchange Group

Lloyds Banking Group PlcLegal & General Group PlcLand Securities Group Plc

Kingfisher PlcJohnson Matthey Plc

Itv PlcIntu Properties Plc

Intl Consolidated Airline-DiIntertek Group Plc

Intercontinental Hotels GrouInmarsat Plc

Informa PlcImperial Brands Plc

Hsbc Holdings PlcHargreaves Lansdown Plc

Hammerson PlcGlencore Plc

Glaxosmithkline PlcGkn Plc

Fresnillo PlcExperian Plc

Easyjet PlcDixons Carphone Plc

Direct Line Insurance GroupDiageo Plc

Dcc PlcCrh Plc

Compass Group PlcCoca-Cola Hbc Ag-Di

Centrica PlcCarnival Plc

Capita PlcBurberry Group Plc

Bunzl PlcBt Group Plc

British Land Co PlcBritish American Tobacco Plc

Bp PlcBhp Billiton Plc

Berkeley Group Holdings/TheBarratt Developments Plc

Barclays PlcBae Systems Plc

Babcock Intl Group PlcAviva Plc

Astrazeneca PlcAssociated British Foods Plc

Ashtead Group PlcArm Holdings Plc

Antofagasta PlcAnglo American Plc

Admiral Group Plc3I Group Plc

#N/A

1,139.00

0.00

0.00

253.90

4,700.00

168.82

690.00

4,144.50

1,373.00

1,114.00

235.80

172.95

0.00

617.50

1,111.50

1,118.00

1,384.50

1,580.00

4,532.50

1,847.00

3,066.00

316.90

580.20

0.00

616.80

474.10

2,549.00

2,513.00

256.90

988.00

3,722.50

0.00

1,503.50

6,742.00

4,830.00

1,725.50

641.60

2,423.00

850.00

6,855.00

0.00

5,266.00

773.90

2,098.00

388.50

449.90

279.30

4,762.00

60.53

255.70

886.50

247.00

3,589.00

153.00

155.30

687.00

4,762.00

4,644.00

496.80

727.00

2,566.50

662.20

2,244.00

465.00

319.60

1,496.80

0.00

825.60

1,907.50

1,425.00

168.20

324.00

2,613.00

7,365.00

2,476.00

1,606.50

2,529.00

147.95

4,877.00

146.25

2,111.00

2,401.00

228.30

614.20

3,560.00

553.40

1,598.80

3,696.00

570.00

173.12

636.20

715.60

472.90

5,601.00

2,225.00

2,326.00

0.00

837.00

1,655.60

2,014.00

945.00

0.00

0.35

0.00

0.00

-1.38

-0.44

-0.06

-2.07

-2.19

-0.44

-0.18

0.30

1.83

0.00

3.30

1.41

-0.45

-1.28

0.93

0.99

-2.35

1.19

-1.18

0.48

0.00

0.95

-2.37

0.04

0.20

2.51

0.98

2.96

0.00

-2.27

0.15

2.01

3.70

-0.06

1.59

1.02

-0.07

0.00

-1.39

-2.69

-0.52

-0.23

0.09

-0.43

0.08

1.73

1.39

-0.45

-6.30

1.82

-0.16

0.45

0.06

-1.55

-0.41

-0.76

-0.47

-0.48

1.78

1.31

0.65

3.53

0.67

0.00

3.67

0.39

0.21

3.10

0.25

-0.78

1.73

0.65

-1.35

-1.40

-0.94

1.08

0.27

-0.89

-0.04

-1.13

-0.07

-1.11

0.60

3.18

2.30

1.50

2.16

0.63

3.41

0.15

-0.14

-1.11

0.04

0.00

5.87

5.05

-1.56

-0.30

0.00

3,125,315

-

-

10,879,639

353,975

50,216,114

2,362,652

3,271,829

762,876

983,232

19,015,020

10,716,413

-

10,665,663

1,232,708

3,787,392

1,816,474

2,575,032

1,813,203

658,406

350,552

6,590,821

3,642,264

-

2,272,395

3,125,914

3,130,880

3,592,885

22,070,593

2,787,137

5,693,062

-

8,004,587

1,328,084

565,787

5,790,231

415,715

776,317

3,518,204

118,589

-

510,213

8,444,207

1,474,241

1,379,191

1,045,260

6,896,493

1,171,987

158,551,272

11,062,606

1,229,077

28,439,099

415,640

13,607,002

2,606,463

2,415,966

364,641

380,289

2,644,411

1,781,646

1,811,631

20,229,370

1,037,025

3,079,169

49,936,316

6,549,328

-

1,549,675

1,726,309

981,504

4,604,975

2,910,396

3,325,495

246,837

1,039,646

2,408,049

477,837

13,459,714

753,266

4,156,322

1,779,816

647,602

13,941,174

2,838,854

4,588,881

23,414,973

8,305,327

525,071

3,423,129

46,770,354

6,191,171

3,069,328

8,990,195

1,374,513

601,831

1,403,779

-

5,345,254

7,119,161

850,331

2,075,472

-

FTSE 100

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Hitachi LtdTakeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Jfe Holdings IncSumitomo Corp

Canon IncNintendo Co Ltd

Eisai Co LtdIsuzu Motors Ltd

Unicharm CorpShin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd

Smc CorpMitsubishi Corp

Asahi Group Holdings LtdKeyence Corp

Nidec CorpNomura Holdings Inc

Daiichi Sankyo Co LtdSubaru Corp

Ntt Docomo IncSumitomo Realty & Developmen

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd

747.20

4,686.00

2,497.00

1,876.50

3,553.00

40,000.00

10,545.00

1,752.00

3,835.00

9,833.00

36,160.00

3,473.00

4,926.00

63,370.00

16,500.00

541.70

4,580.00

3,269.00

3,049.00

3,991.00

3,786.00

1.99

-1.08

1.13

1.10

0.51

2.43

-1.03

2.97

-0.31

1.91

3.58

3.24

-0.71

2.26

3.03

1.37

0.00

1.18

0.76

1.09

1.47

22,928,000

5,862,500

3,092,700

5,083,700

3,947,500

2,033,700

1,087,700

2,782,800

1,538,200

1,913,300

342,800

6,986,500

1,959,200

418,100

1,108,000

20,336,800

1,840,700

3,830,500

3,919,700

1,544,000

1,505,500

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Orix CorpDaiwa Securities Group Inc

Softbank Group CorpMizuho Financial Group Inc

Central Japan Railway CoNitori Holdings Co Ltd

T&D Holdings IncToyota Motor Corp

Hoya CorpSumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdin

Japan Tobacco IncOsaka Gas Co Ltd

Sumitomo Electric IndustriesOno Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Ajinomoto Co IncMitsui Fudosan Co Ltd

Daikin Industries LtdToray Industries Inc

Bridgestone CorpSony Corp

Astellas Pharma IncJxtg Holdings Inc

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo MetaSuzuki Motor Corp

Nippon Telegraph & TelephoneSompo Holdings Inc

Daiwa House Industry Co LtdKomatsu Ltd

West Japan Railway CoMurata Manufacturing Co Ltd

Kansai Electric Power Co IncDenso Corp

Dai-Ichi Life Holdings IncMazda Motor Corp

Mitsui & Co LtdKao Corp

Sekisui House LtdOriental Land Co Ltd

Secom Co LtdTokio Marine Holdings Inc

Aeon Co LtdFanuc Corp

Daito Trust Construct Co LtdOtsuka Holdings Co Ltd

Resona Holdings IncAsahi Kasei Corp

Kirin Holdings Co LtdMitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro

Marubeni CorpMitsubishi Chemical Holdings

Fast Retailing Co LtdMs&Ad Insurance Group Holdin

Kubota CorpSeven & I Holdings Co Ltd

Inpex CorpSumitomo Mitsui Financial Gr

Ana Holdings IncMitsubishi Electric Corp

Honda Motor Co LtdTokyo Gas Co Ltd

Tokyo Electron LtdPanasonic Corp

Fujitsu LtdEast Japan Railway Co

Itochu CorpFujifilm Holdings Corp

Yamato Holdings Co LtdChubu Electric Power Co Inc

Mitsubishi Estate Co LtdMitsubishi Heavy Industries

Shiseido Co LtdShionogi & Co Ltd

Recruit Holdings Co LtdJapan Airlines Co Ltd

Nitto Denko CorpKddi Corp

Rakuten IncKyocera Corp

Nissan Motor Co Ltd

1,817.00

692.00

10,915.00

198.30

23,270.00

16,855.00

1,787.00

7,019.00

6,608.00

4,577.00

2,990.00

2,181.00

1,799.00

3,080.00

1,912.50

2,636.50

15,605.00

866.60

4,245.00

6,682.00

2,006.50

835.00

2,310.50

7,101.00

5,154.00

4,746.00

3,301.00

3,282.00

7,813.00

17,940.00

1,632.50

5,707.00

2,301.50

1,322.50

1,965.50

9,055.00

1,733.00

11,705.00

9,293.00

5,447.00

2,663.50

22,170.00

15,130.00

5,413.00

624.30

1,690.00

2,907.00

702.70

997.40

1,010.50

56,230.00

3,659.00

1,848.00

5,100.00

1,373.50

4,538.00

3,945.00

1,526.50

3,383.00

2,771.00

16,370.00

1,347.50

814.60

10,670.00

2,092.50

5,109.00

3,373.00

1,708.50

1,930.00

4,163.00

7,928.00

7,216.00

3,665.00

4,081.00

8,516.00

3,090.00

840.60

6,619.00

1,086.50

0.03

0.20

1.91

1.12

1.48

0.51

3.47

0.85

-0.51

2.17

0.02

0.79

1.84

1.18

-0.10

3.33

3.17

0.87

1.51

0.45

2.79

4.11

1.72

0.01

0.12

2.26

1.60

3.76

0.32

2.90

-2.16

1.19

4.21

0.95

1.21

-1.82

1.40

0.91

0.86

2.23

0.59

1.81

0.73

2.93

0.82

1.96

3.12

1.49

2.12

0.80

-2.48

2.75

2.55

2.00

1.74

1.68

-0.88

2.59

3.01

0.62

0.80

1.77

1.86

2.06

3.03

0.63

2.00

0.23

2.50

1.29

1.15

1.29

5.68

-1.54

1.98

-0.48

-0.63

2.64

1.16

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg

Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-HBank Of East Asia Ltd

Bank Of China Ltd-HBank Of Communications Co-H

Belle International HoldingsBoc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd

Cathay Pacific AirwaysCk Hutchison Holdings Ltd

China Coal Energy Co-HChina Construction Bank-H

China Life Insurance Co-HChina Merchants Port Holding

China Mobile LtdChina Overseas Land & Invest

China Petroleum & Chemical-HChina Resources Beer Holding

China Resources Land LtdChina Resources Power Holdin

China Shenhua Energy Co-HChina Unicom Hong Kong Ltd

Citic LtdClp Holdings Ltd

Cnooc LtdCosco Shipping Ports Ltd

Esprit Holdings LtdFih Mobile Ltd

Hang Lung Properties LtdHang Seng Bank Ltd

Henderson Land DevelopmentHong Kong & China Gas

Hong Kong Exchanges & ClearHsbc Holdings Plc

3.35

28.95

3.42

5.69

0.00

35.85

11.42

92.05

3.21

6.65

17.28

15.16

75.75

25.05

7.81

31.05

28.40

13.90

17.22

9.41

11.28

94.90

14.94

7.61

1.67

1.01

15.10

206.80

40.20

15.76

224.40

67.95

3.72

0.52

0.59

0.71

0.00

0.14

2.33

0.44

0.63

1.68

1.29

-0.39

-0.79

5.47

2.90

3.67

4.60

1.61

2.74

0.64

0.00

0.05

2.47

0.40

-2.91

1.00

0.40

-0.58

0.37

-0.13

1.81

0.30

28,481,688

2,644,210

230,539,211

24,903,031

-

7,675,130

3,002,369

4,837,401

9,232,000

262,237,692

37,293,074

2,779,679

14,903,524

30,313,415

138,898,530

17,497,788

15,899,740

5,784,563

16,278,492

25,556,346

7,764,565

2,798,099

52,664,451

1,449,806

6,757,529

3,903,000

4,864,926

873,196

1,948,952

7,570,941

6,523,329

23,174,011

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Hutchison Whampoa LtdInd & Comm Bk Of China-H

Li & Fung LtdMtr Corp

New World DevelopmentPetrochina Co Ltd-H

Ping An Insurance Group Co-HPower Assets Holdings Ltd

Sino Land CoSun Hung Kai Properties

Swire Pacific Ltd - Cl ATencent Holdings Ltd

Wharf Holdings Ltd

0.00

5.54

1.85

41.60

10.36

6.17

77.15

55.95

13.46

116.80

86.45

321.60

22.20

0.00

1.47

-2.63

-0.95

0.58

1.98

2.39

-0.44

0.45

-0.17

-0.46

1.13

-0.45

-

254,682,308

63,591,000

3,386,943

10,004,475

183,124,903

78,957,710

1,795,452

3,934,445

4,868,464

982,500

20,774,346

7,732,488

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zee Entertainment EnterpriseYes Bank Ltd

Wipro LtdVedanta Ltd

Ultratech Cement LtdTech Mahindra Ltd

Tata Steel LtdTata Power Co Ltd

Tata Motors LtdTata Consultancy Svcs Ltd

Sun Pharmaceutical IndusState Bank Of India

Reliance Industries LtdPunjab National Bank

Power Grid Corp Of India LtdOil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd

Ntpc LtdMaruti Suzuki India Ltd

Mahindra & Mahindra LtdLupin Ltd

Larsen & Toubro LtdKotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

Itc LtdInfosys Ltd

Indusind Bank LtdVodafone Idea Ltd

Icici Bank LtdHousing Development Finance

Hindustan Unilever LtdHindalco Industries Ltd

Hero Motocorp LtdHdfc Bank Limited

Hcl Technologies LtdGrasim Industries Ltd

Gail India LtdDr. Reddy’s Laboratories

Coal India LtdCipla Ltd

Cairn India LtdBosch Ltd

Bharti Airtel LtdBharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

Bharat Heavy ElectricalsBank Of Baroda

Bajaj Auto LtdAxis Bank Ltd

Asian Paints LtdAmbuja Cements Ltd

Adani Ports And Special EconAcc Ltd

450.80

319.20

332.70

230.10

4,050.70

769.95

621.20

75.55

252.60

2,077.90

648.85

271.50

1,210.75

79.25

198.30

177.00

169.15

8,210.35

948.90

909.35

1,332.90

1,226.90

299.65

719.75

1,804.65

45.75

320.95

1,830.65

1,647.10

235.65

3,153.95

1,961.35

1,087.30

1,068.20

384.55

2,607.10

280.65

660.60

0.00

20,622.80

370.05

365.05

74.85

116.35

2,790.10

608.80

1,291.35

225.00

372.40

1,563.70

-2.96

-1.34

0.05

-0.02

-0.23

2.02

1.38

1.27

0.44

0.35

0.99

-0.84

-0.53

-0.06

-0.30

1.78

-0.32

-2.25

0.25

-2.15

0.38

0.95

-1.19

0.09

-3.09

-1.08

0.66

-1.35

-1.07

0.64

1.37

-1.40

0.31

0.13

2.60

0.89

2.73

-0.47

0.00

-0.50

-0.98

2.80

1.35

2.87

0.59

0.03

-0.06

0.27

-1.88

-0.42

SENSEX

Company Name Lt Price % Chg

WORLD INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

GCC INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

Dow Jones Indus. AvgS&P 500 Index

Nasdaq Composite IndexS&P/Tsx Composite Index

Mexico Bolsa IndexBrazil Bovespa Stock Idx

Ftse 100 IndexCac 40 Index

Dax IndexIbex 35 Tr

Nikkei 225Japan Topix

Hang Seng IndexAll Ordinaries Indx

Nzx All IndexBse Sensex 30 Index

Nse S&P Cnx Nifty IndexStraits Times Index

Karachi All Share IndexJakarta Composite Index

26,447.20

2,908.78

7,945.93

16,198.07

49,783.74

78,652.45

7,331.12

5,393.74

12,219.02

9,486.30

23,672.52

1,785.66

27,407.37

6,297.00

1,641.97

37,121.22

11,234.35

3,176.57

30,084.77

5,873.60

+200.24

+4.47

-10.18

+2.03

+121.91

+338.49

+30.89

+29.95

+61.35

+38.80

+251.98

+25.78

+322.71

+27.50

+4.24

-169.45

-44.55

+37.23

+8.13

+61.81

Doha Securities MarketSaudi Tadawul

Kuwait Stocks ExchangeBahrain Stock Exchage

Oman Stock MarketAbudhabi Stock MarketDubai Financial Market

9,805.40

7,729.65

#N/A N/A

1,340.06

4,485.06

4,884.06

2,740.68

-18.13

+86.25

#N/A N/A

+1.08

-10.63

+7.67

-2.30

“Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended as an off er or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on this data.”

6,166,900

7,531,900

6,003,300

143,406,300

340,200

492,800

3,771,500

7,104,100

1,283,700

1,731,400

4,630,600

1,300,800

2,197,300

2,107,900

1,821,300

5,693,100

1,222,100

4,945,100

2,710,500

7,605,200

9,571,400

15,206,900

4,498,600

1,632,500

2,856,600

1,604,200

1,827,500

7,662,800

485,500

1,299,400

5,691,100

1,952,600

10,936,900

4,652,300

7,019,100

2,050,500

2,880,200

574,500

1,151,900

3,389,400

3,040,500

1,320,500

731,000

1,413,600

17,136,700

4,639,200

3,198,700

62,349,500

8,564,200

6,361,300

1,221,400

2,598,400

2,822,800

3,451,200

5,133,200

8,408,100

2,387,700

6,320,000

5,403,700

1,999,800

2,159,100

11,799,400

8,782,000

1,188,100

6,987,300

2,597,500

1,288,900

1,705,200

5,457,900

1,901,300

2,729,400

2,069,000

7,125,300

2,817,400

979,300

5,782,800

9,420,900

2,119,800

14,508,900

2,864,691

17,349,401

3,073,532

19,282,211

326,181

2,132,363

10,770,995

5,977,257

8,477,416

1,357,695

8,256,182

42,476,724

12,127,106

26,196,606

3,489,676

10,951,426

4,391,267

1,089,283

2,162,087

3,860,507

946,848

2,139,911

6,935,778

5,000,890

1,506,909

12,826,507

17,871,934

4,104,278

1,692,339

10,114,267

311,710

4,418,836

2,281,091

1,187,851

7,883,977

928,781

5,128,291

3,351,949

-

11,862

2,552,247

5,077,113

6,809,827

124,055,062

345,743

9,879,242

1,015,927

2,182,182

2,307,314

284,095

Volume

Volume

Danske Bank boss quits over $234bn money laundering scandalDanske says 200bn flowed through Estonian branch; vast majority of flows were suspicious; bank failed to heed regulator, whistleblower warnings

ReutersCopenhagen

Danske Bank’s chief executive Tho-mas Borgen resigned yesterday after a investigation revealed pay-

ments totalling €200bn ($234bn) through its Estonian branch, many of which the bank said were suspicious.

The Danish bank detailed compliance and control failings amid growing calls for a new European Union watchdog to crack down on fi nancial crime after a series of money laundering scandals which have attracted the attention of US authorities.

“Even though I was personally cleared from a legal point of view, I hold the ul-timate responsibility. There is no doubt that we as an organisation have failed in this situation and did not live up to expec-tations,” Borgen, who will stay on until a new CEO is appointed, told a press con-ference.

Borgen, 54, was in charge of Danske Bank’s international operations, includ-ing Estonia, between 2009 and 2012.

Danske Bank said in a summary of a re-port covering around 15,000 customers and 9.5mn payments between 2007 and 2015 that Borgen, chairman Ole Andersen and the board “did not breach their legal obligations”. Andersen said the bank had made an assessment of whether it violat-ed US laws, a key concern for sharehold-ers, but declined to share its conclusion when asked at a press conference.

The Estonian non-resident portfolio included customers from Russia, Azerba-ijan, Ukraine and other ex-Soviet states, the investigation, which began a year ago after the Berlingske newspaper revealed alleged misconduct at the branch, found.

Danske Bank, whose already battered shares fell by nearly 8% during morning trading, said some 6,200 customers had been examined so far and it expected “a signifi cant part of the payments to be sus-picious”. Shares in Danske Bank had dou-bled in value from when Borgen took over as CEO in 2013 until July 2017, but have since lost more than a third as allegations of suspicious transactions increased and Denmark and Estonia began criminal in-vestigations.

The bank said it had taken action in-

cluding “warnings, dismissals, loss of bonus payments and reporting to the authorities” against current and former staff , as well as overhauling the systems which had contributed to the lapses.

In an indication of the potential costs such failings can have on a bank, Dutch bank ING agreed to pay €775mn ($900mn) this month after admitting criminals had been able to launder money through its accounts.

And earlier this year US authorities ac-cused Latvia’s ABLV of covering up mon-ey laundering, leading to the bank being denied US dollar funding and its swift collapse.

While Danske does not have a bank-ing licence in the United States, banning US correspondent banks from dealing with it would amount to shutting it out of the global fi nancial network. The re-port found that Danske Bank failed to

take proper action in 2007 when it was criticised by the Estonian regulator and received information from its Danish counterpart that pointed to “criminal ac-tivity in its pure form, including money laundering” estimated at “billions of roubles monthly”. And when a whistle-blower raised problems at the Estonian branch in early 2014 the allegations were not properly investigated and were not shared with the board, Danske said, add-ing that measures to get its business there under control had been insuffi cient. Dan-ske Bank also said the Estonian branch did not employ its anti-money laundering procedures because it had decided not to migrate its Baltic banking activities onto the bank’s IT platform, because it would have been too expensive.

“The report describes serious short-comings in the organisation of Danske Bank, where risk-appetite and risk con-

trol were not in balance,” the head of Es-tonia’s FSA fi nancial regulator Kilvar Kes-sler said in a statement.

Danske Bank, which cut its forecast for annual net profi t to 16-17bn Danish crowns, from a previous 18-20bn, has successfully overcome previous traumas.

The government had to step in and ensure it could pay its short-term dollar debt when international markets froze in 2008 and in 2012 it was criticised for an advertising campaign that sought to improve its image, borrowing symbols linked to the anti-establishment move-ment Occupy Wall Street.

Prior to the money laundering scan-dal, Borgen had managed to improve the bank’s image and earnings in part by cut-ting costs, shifting its focus to wealthier clients and expanding in Sweden and Norway to rival the Nordic region’s big-gest bank, Nordea.

McDonald’s EU tax probe ended as burger giant let off hookBloombergLuxembourg

McDonald’s Corp won a rare reprieve from European Union competition regulators cracking down on unfair fiscal deals for multinational firms.The Big Mac maker escaped the fate of other big US companies ordered to repay back taxes to EU nations after off icials concluded that a pact with Luxembourg didn’t break the law. The arrangement allowed the company to side step taxes on its profits in the tiny country that’s been at the center of a wave of tax probes.“Our in-depth investigation has shown that the reason for double non-taxation

in this case is a mismatch between Luxembourg and US tax laws, and not a special treatment by Luxembourg,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. “Therefore, Luxembourg did not break EU state aid rules.”Luxembourg has already faced three negative decisions amid the EU crackdown, being ordered in June to recoup €120mn ($141mn) from French energy utility Engie SA and in 2017 to reclaim €250mn from Amazon.com Inc over selective tax benefits granted to the US tech company.“I am pleased that the commission notes that the application of the rules in force at the time was in conformity with EU law,” Luxembourg Finance Minister

Pierre Gramegna said in an emailed statement.McDonald’s welcomed the EU’s decision, saying in a statement that the company pays “the taxes that are owed and, from 2013-2017, McDonald’s companies paid more than $3bn just in corporate income taxes” in the EU with an average tax rate close to 29%.”The announcement comes just over two years after Apple Inc was handed a record multibillion-euro tax bill over its revenue arrangements in Ireland. EU off icials have often described the McDonald’s case as challenging because they had to take account of double-tax and other international treaties.In this case, the commission concluded that Luxembourg had not misapplied

the Luxembourg — US Double Taxation Treaty by exempting the income of the company’s American branch from Luxembourg corporate taxation.“This interpretation of the Luxembourg — US Double Taxation Treaty led to double non-taxation of the franchise income of McDonald’s Europe Franchising.”Luxembourg in June proposed draft rules that would change provisions in the tax code to bring them in line with international tax standards and avoid similar cases of double non-taxation in the future, the commission said. The draft law is being discussed by the Luxembourg Parliament.“Of course, the fact remains that McDonald’s did not pay any taxes on

these profits, and this is not how it should be from a tax fairness point of view,” Vestager told reporters in Brussels yesterday.“That’s why I very much welcome that the Luxembourg government is taking legislative steps to address the issue that arose in this case and avoid such situations in the future.”Vestager says she is standing up for fairness by cracking down on special tax deals that benefit only a select few companies. At stake are billions of euros that multinational companies have squirreled away in tax havens, out of the reach of authorities in the countries where they make most of their sales.Ending the McDonald’s probe comes a week before Vestager plans to meet US

off icials and politicians in Washington amid criticism that EU investigations have often targeted successful American companies. Google has been fined about €6.7bn to date and is still facing a further antitrust probe.McDonald’s in 2016 announced it would ditch Luxembourg and switch its non-US tax base to the UK, where it would create a new international holding company in charge of most of the royalties received from licensing intellectual property rights outside the US.Alongside the EU case, the hamburger chain has been facing criticism from trade unions and consumer groups, alleging the company avoided more than €1bn in taxes in Europe between 2009 and 2013.

UK infl ationunexpectedly leaps to 6-month high in AugustReutersLondon

British infl ation jumped unexpectedly to a six-month high in August,

pushed up by bigger-than-usual seasonal increases in sea and air fares and briefl y sending sterling above $1.32 for the fi rst time since July.

Consumer price infl ation rose to an annual rate of 2.7% in August from 2.5% in July, the Offi ce for National Statistics said — above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to a fall to 2.4%.

The ONS also said British house prices rose at the weak-est annual rate in nearly fi ve years, dragged down by the biggest drop in London house prices since 2009 — the latest sign of a slack housing market since the 2016 Brexit vote.

Wednesday’s data jolted in-vestors.

British government bond prices fell and sterling rose sharply, but it dropped later on a report Prime Minister There-sa May will reject a new Euro-pean Union plan to solve the Irish border problem around Brexit.

The infl ation fi gures are also likely to surprise Bank of Eng-land offi cials who had expected infl ation to cool to 2.4% in Au-gust.

The BoE last month raised interest rates for the second time since the financial crisis but pointed to only gradual future increases as it expects inflation to drift down to near its 2% target in three years’ time.

Most analysts doubted the latest jump in infl ation re-fl ected a rise in underlying price pressures and was driven mostly by factors like theatre ticket prices that were probably one-off s.

“Despite the overshoot, we are doubtful that we are likely to see any resulting shift in the mood music from those on the UK’s Monetary Policy Com-mittee,” Investec economist Victoria Clarke said.

Still, the rise in infl ation in August represents a setback to the modest recovery in real-

terms wage growth that has helped to support economic growth this year.

The fall in the value of the pound in August on renewed concerns about Brexit deprived consumers of the benefi t of a fall in oil prices in annual terms, the ONS fi gures showed.

Consumer price infl ation hit a fi ve-year high of 3.1% last November, when the infl ation-ary eff ect of the pound’s tum-ble after Britain’s June 2016 referendum vote to exit the EU reached its peak.

The ONS said house prices in July rose by an annual 3.1% across the United Kingdom as a whole compared with 3.2% in June — the smallest increase since August 2013.

House prices in London alone fell 0.7% year-on-year in July, the biggest drop since Sep-tember 2009. “Slowing growth in house prices will encour-age households to save a larger share of their incomes and will strengthen the case for the MPC to hold back from raising Bank Rate again within the next six months,” economist Samuel Tombs from Pantehon Macr-oeconomics said.

Despite August’s rise in the headline rate of infl ation, the ONS data suggested there could be some relief for consumers in the months ahead.

Prices at British factory gates rose 2.9% year-on-year in Au-gust, the weakest increase in four months.

Manufacturers’ costs for materials and energy also rose at the slowest pace in four months.

BUSINESS13Gulf Times

Thursday, September 20, 2018

O’Leary strikes humble tone before Ryanair investor meetingBloombergLondon

Ryanair Holdings Plc chief ex-ecutive offi cer Michael O’Leary has presided over years of rising

profi ts and passenger growth at Eu-rope’s biggest discount airline.

But the outspoken executive is strik-ing a more humble tone before the car-rier’s annual shareholder meeting to-day outside Dublin.

“I am no longer in the position given the job I’ve done over the last 12 months to be haranguing others about the job they’re doing,” he said last week, when asked about a hacking incident at rival British Airways. “I have enough to do myself at Ryanair and clearly I need to improve my own performance.”

Ryanair is facing a turbulent annual general meeting amid planned strikes in fi ve European countries and share-

holder concerns that the company’s board lacks independence and chair-man David Bonderman is too close to O’Leary. The carrier is forecasting its fi rst profi t drop since 2014 this fi scal

year, hit by higher fuel prices, competi-tion and the cost of labour unrest.

Ryanair was forced to reverse its long-held policy of not recognising un-ions last year in the wake of a schedul-ing crisis that gave staff increased bar-gaining power.

While it’s notched a deal with Irish pilots in August, most other unions are holding out. The company has suff ered months of labour disputes that threat-en to push up costs as it’s forced to re-negotiate terms with its staff .

Now a laundry list of investors and public pension funds — the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, California Public Employees’ Retirement System and Royal London — along with advisory fi rms PIRC, ISS and Glass Lewis have said they would vote against Bonderman, the billionaire co-founder of TPG Capital and O’Leary ally who has served in the role for more

than 20 years. PIRC also opposes the re-election of O’Leary.

HSBC analyst Andrew Lobbenberg said in a phone interview that the in-dependence of the Ryanair board didn’t appear strong.

“The fact that you’ve got a chairman in place for 26 years is unusual. Twen-ty-six years is quite an extreme dura-tion on a board.”

Ashley Hamilton Claxton at investor Royal London said it had “long-stand-ing issues” with the extent to which the board could provide ”eff ective chal-lenge” to management decisions.

O’Leary still expects his chairman to be re-elected with a huge majority, he said in a Bloomberg TV interview last week. Last year, 89% of share-holders voted in favor of Bonderman’s re-election. The company said on Wednesday that Ryanair shareholders would pass all AGM resolutions by a large majority.

“10 years is too much for some non-executive directors because they’re useless,” O’Leary said in the interview. “In other cases you should hang on to the better ones for 20 years if need be because they make a con-tribution.”

The airline has barred journalists from attending the meeting, saying it wants shareholders to “discuss all mat-ters freely with the Board without these discussions being distorted for PR pur-poses.”

International union groups ITF and ETF have also called for sharehold-ers to vote against Bonderman, and the company is facing the prospect of new strikes on September 28 as unions representing crews in Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands plan to walk out over pay and working conditions.

In Poland, unions say Ryanair is forc-ing cabin crew to accept self-employed

contracts or face dismissal and have established a new union to fi ght the change. Ryanair says the claims are false.

In a sign that the labour tensions aren’t easing, European Cockpit As-sociation President Dirk Polloczek said that pilots had lost confi dence in current management. “Developments over the past months have clearly shown that the relationship between Ryanair management and its employ-ees has become dysfunctional, and this is now putting at risk the contin-ued success of the airline,” he said in a statement.

In the face of the disputes, O’Leary remains defi ant. “Just because they threaten us with a strike we won’t roll over and concede into anything that would endanger the business model, which depends on us off ering the low-est fares in the markets in which we op-erate,” he said in the interview.

Thomas Borgen, CEO of Danske Bank (centre), arrives for a news conference with Ole Andersen, chairman of Danske Bank (left), and Carole Sergeant, vice-chairman of Danske Bank, in Copenhagen yesterday. “Even though I was personally cleared from a legal point of view, I hold the ultimate responsibility. There is no doubt that we as an organisation have failed in this situation and did not live up to expectations,” Borgen said.

O’Leary: Remaining defiant.

A customer picks a bag of potatoes inside a Morrisons supermarket in London. Consumer price inflation rose to an annual rate of 2.7% in August from 2.5% in July, the Off ice for National Statistics said yesterday.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Thursday, September 20, 201814

US, Canada trade sharper barbs before resuming Nafta talksBloombergOttawa

Nafta talks are picking up again as the US and Canada each wait for the other to blink — and as

the clock runs down to reach a deal that would likely have the easiest path for approval.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Min-ister Chrystia Freeland will meet today in Washington, their fi rst in-person session in eight days. The two countries remain at odds on core issues, includ-ing dairy and dispute panels, and have been pressuring each other on the eve of the meeting.

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a key Republican lawmaker, warned in a statement on Tuesday that congressional patience with Canada was wearing thin. Prime Minister Jus-tin Trudeau, at the same time, contin-ues to say he would rather see no deal reached than be forced to accept a bad one.

Time is running out to reach and publish an agreement by the end of the month. Canada is said to consider Thursday the deadline for a high-level agreement that could be then convert-ed into legal text.

A preliminary trade deal was reached with Mexico in August. Barring an ac-cord with Canada, President Donald Trump has threatened to proceed with only Mexico, though Scalise stopped short of saying Congress would go along with that.

“It is growing increasingly unlikely that you can get text to the Congress by Sept. 30,” said Jennifer Hillman, a professor of law at Georgetown Uni-versity and former general counsel to the Offi ce of the US Trade Representa-tive. It’s even more unlikely to proceed quickly with only Mexico, she said. “Canada does still have some lever-age.”

Scalise, the House Majority Whip, said if Canada does not “cooperate,” Congress would “consider options about how best to move forward,” though he didn’t specify how.

“There is a growing frustration with many in Congress regarding Canada’s negotiating tactics,” Scalise said in the statement. “While we would all like to see Canada remain part of this three-country coalition, there is not an un-limited amount of time for it to be part of this new agreement.”

There have also been numerous calls in the US to include Canada. In a joint letter dated Monday, three major US business groups — the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manu-facturers — said it would be “unaccept-able to sideline Canada,” the top buyer of US goods. Prominent members of Congress have also said that Canada should be part of any new North Amer-ican trade agreement.

“I think that if all three countries are in and all signed up, there’s a much higher likelihood this gets passed,” Bruce Heyman, a former US ambas-sador to Canada under Barack Obama, said Tuesday on BNN Bloomberg tel-evision. There’s no sign a Mexico-only deal can be passed by Congress, he said,

while shrugging off the signifi cance of Scalise’s statement. “I think Steve Scalise is carrying water for USTR,” he said.

Lower-level offi cials have negotiated in recent days, Freeland told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday. She underscored Canada’s insistence that it won’t bow to all demands. “Any negotiator who goes into a negotiation believing that he or she must get a deal at any price — that is a negotiator who will be forced to pay the maximum price for that deal,” she said. “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

Canadian offi cials are warning that they’re prepared to see the next dead-line pass if they don’t get an agreement they can live with, according to two people familiar with talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Cana-dians need eff ective dispute settlement provisions in anti-dumping cases, and certainty to avoid misuse of national security investigations, under which Trump has applied tariff s, one of the people said.

Sticking points in talks include dairy,

where the US, facing a supply glut, is seeking a bigger cut of Canada’s pro-tected market. In exchange, Canada is hoping to preserve some form of anti-dumping panels contained in Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and an exemption for Ca-nadian cultural industries.

Other American demands include longer intellectual property and phar-maceutical patent protection and a higher threshold for duty-free ship-ments across the US-Canada border, none of which the Canadians have sig-nalled are deal-breakers.

It’s unclear what will happen if it becomes impossible to publish text of a deal by September 30. The countries could extend talks, but that means Mexico’s president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — who takes office December 1 — will have to be the one to sign the new agreement.

Trump could try to proceed with Mexico only, but will face blowback from Congress, and the actual US-Mexico agreement would probably re-quire further changes, Hillman said,

because it’s written in a way — for ex-ample, a requirement that 75% of auto content be sourced within the trade pact’s member nations — that ap-pears to presume Canadian involve-ment. “You wouldn’t want to leave that number at 75% if Canada is not includ-ed,” because automakers couldn’t meet it, she added.

Trump, meanwhile, took aim at the Canadians again on Tuesday. “Canada has taken advantage of our country for a long time,” he said. “They are in a position that is not a good position for Canada.”

The president has threatened auto tariff s on the Trudeau government if it balks at a deal. Finally, Trump could use another pressure tactic: give six months’ notice of quitting the existing North American Free Trade Agreement. Heyman said he was concerned that could happen.

Doing so “could then scramble a lot of things up,” he said. In that case, and others, Congress will be roped in. “These last few days are always tough.”

Ancient Genoa bank riven by power battle as ECBdemands a solutionBloombergMilan

Whoever wins the very public scrap for con-trol of Italy’s Banca

Carige today, they won’t have much time to enjoy the victory.

A new board proposed by top investor Vittorio Malacalza or one supporting current chief ex-ecutive offi cer Paolo Fiorentino will take leadership of a lender that has only weeks to satisfy ur-gent European Central Bank de-mands that it fi x a chronic capi-tal shortage, possibly through a merger. Just to complicate mat-ters, the board may end up split between the rival slates.

“Time is running out and there is no visibility on the fu-ture, so risks of a resolution by the ECB are quite high,” said Ste-fano Girola, a portfolio manager at Alicanto Capital SGR. “As it is, the bank doesn’t have a bril-liant future. It needs a buyer to increase capital, size and profi t-ability.”

Carige remains mired in

problems that plagued much of Italy’s fi nancial industry, long after most other major lenders executed turnarounds or were absorbed or rescued with the state’s help. While the bank is probably too small to put the wider fi nancial system at risk, its failure could shatter a fragile return to confi dence in Italy and its banking sector.

The fi ght for control of Car-ige pits Malacalza, the bank’s biggest shareholder, against a CEO he originally nominated. A feud between the two blew up after the ECB in July rejected the bank’s capital-conservation proposal, demanded a new plan by Nov. 30 and said it wants its fi nancial-strength requirements to be met by the end of the year.

“The two fi ghters are play-ing a chess game in which they only look at the next move,” said Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maff e, a professor of business strategy at Milan’s Bocconi University. “The lack of a strategy on how to face the real problems re-lated to the regulators’ requests can backfi re, whoever wins the game.”

Since the ECB rebuke, Ma-lacalza has repeatedly criti-cized Fiorentino’s management and demanded a new board led by UBS executive Fabio Inno-cenzi as CEO and former In-tesa Sanpaolo SpA manager Pi-etro Modiano as chairman. The bank’s next three largest inves-tors then joined forces to side-line Malacalza.

A victory for the CEO would bolster his strategy of seek-ing a merger partner quickly, while Malacalza has indicated he wants the bank to clean up its own house before pursuing any tie-up.

Raff aele Mincione, whose company owns about 5.4% of Carige, signed a shareholder

agreement with Gabriele Volpi, a Genoa-born tycoon who made his fortune in Nigeria’s oil indus-try and holds about 9% of Car-ige, and Aldo Spinelli, owner of almost 1%. The group presented its own list of board members proposing Fiorentino as CEO and Mincione as chairman.

Malacalza asked a judge to block the presentation of Min-cione’s list, arguing that the bloc supporting it didn’t receive ECB authorisation to act as an infl u-ential shareholder. While the judge declined to block the list, the Bank of Italy froze the Min-cione group’s voting rights at 10%.

Carige is struggling to regain market confi dence after the stock fell to a fraction of a cent. The 535-year-old lender is run-ning short of options after tap-ping investors for €500mn late last year.

While Carige isn’t a big na-tional bank, its collapse would hurt a region of Italy already hit by industrial failures, delays in developing infrastructure and more recently by the deadly

bridge collapse in Genoa. It would also spark a political de-bate, putting the country and its fi nancial industry in the spot-light again.

Carige’s total capital ratio stood at 12.23% in the fi rst quar-ter, almost a percentage point below the minimum sought by the ECB. The bank, whose mar-ket value has shrunk to €494mn from a peak of more than €4bn in 2006, has about one million customers.

In March, Carige failed to raise as much as €400mn of fi nanc-ing through the issue of Tier 2 bonds, partly blaming market conditions resulting from Italian political turmoil.

“I don’t think the bank is a resolution risk” because share-holders have indicated they’re willing to add fresh capital if needed, said Fidentiis Equities analyst Fabrizio Bernardi. “The worst-case scenario would be electing more or less the same number of directors from each side, moving the battle among investors to the board, thus slowing the recovery process.”

A Banca Carige bank branch in Rome. A new board proposed by top investor Vittorio Malacalza or one supporting current CEO Paolo Fiorentino will take leadership of the lender that has only weeks to satisfy urgent ECB demands that it fix a chronic capital shortage, possibly through a merger.

US Chamber chief says Trump can still avoid a damaging trade warReutersWashington

US Chamber of Com-merce President Tom Donohue said yesterday

that the Trump administration could still avoid a full-blown global trade war that erodes business confi dence if it seals a trilateral Nafta trade deal and makes progress on Euro-pean trade issues in the coming weeks.

“The single biggest threat facing the economy right now is the potential for a real trade war.

I don’t think we’re there right now,” Donohue told a breakfast organised by the Christian Sci-ence Monitor.

But if Trump puts in place all the tariff s on Chinese goods that he has threatened and China fully retaliates and talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement break down, a damaging trade war would be underway, Donohue said.

Talks to update Nafta , which US President Donald Trump says is unfair to the United States, have been bogged down amid disagreements between Canadian and US negotiators.

Trump announced a side deal with Mexico last month.

“If we can do something next week and get Nafta done and we do it on a tripartite deal, if we make progress, by the way we are talking in Europe, if we can get that done...we can pretty quickly resolve some of this,” Donohue said.

He added that trade dif-ferences with China will take longer to resolve, but he does

not believe that the Trump ad-ministration wants its tariff s on Chinese goods to become per-manent.

“No, I don’t think the tariff s will be permanent,” Donohue said, adding that this would “screw the economy” in ways similar to the 1930s Smoot-Hawley Tariff , referring to a protectionist law that raised thousands of US tariff s and which many economists be-lieve exacerbated the Depres-sion.

“I don’t believe the White House believes that’s a positive thing to do.”

He added that it was better for the United States and China to continue talking rather than resorting to trade retaliation.

He suggested the Trump ad-ministration should consider alternative pressure tactics other than tariff s, such as lim-iting specifi c Chinese exports to the United States and lev-eraging the help of other US trading partners to help change China’s policies.

Regarding Nafta , Donohue added that he did not believe it was possible to do a US Mex-ico-only trade deal, because Congress prefers a trilateral deal and has not granted au-thority for a bilateral deal.

“If Canada doesn’t come into the deal there is no deal,” Dono-hue said of Nafta .”You can’t do a deal with Mexico... just be-cause you had discussions with them.

First of all Trade Promotion Authority for that is not there, so 435 members of the House and 100 members of the Senate would be free to edit the agree-ment.”

Rolls-Royce signs deal to trial hybrid-electric train conversions

ReutersLondon

Rolls-Royce has signed a deal

to conduct a trial conversion of

diesel trains to hybrid-electric

engines in Britain, in a deal

which could be rolled out to

hundreds of trains across the

country from the 2020s.

The British company, which is

best known for making aircraft

engines, said on Wednesday

that its German Power Systems

business had signed an agree-

ment with Porterbrook, the UK’s

largest owner of passenger

rolling stock.

Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems

unit, which sells engines used on

ships, yachts, trains, trucks, min-

ing and nuclear power stations, is

one of the fastest growing parts

of the company, and its boss said

hybrid technology is behind that.

“We expect hybrid technology

to grow at above the current

growth rates of diesel,” the CEO

of Rolls-Royce Power Systems,

Andreas Schell, told Reuters.

The Power Systems business is

expected to post low double-dig-

it revenue growth this year and

is a bright spot in a company

grappling with the negative

headlines and cost of fixing a

problem with its Trent 1000

aero-engines.

Diesel trains can be fitted with

Rolls-Royce Hybrid PowerPacks

to turn them into hybrid trains

that can also run on battery

power, reducing carbon emis-

sions and making them cheaper

to run for operators while also

making them much quieter

when, for example, they ap-

proach stations.

The hybrid initiative comes as

Britain seeks to phase out diesel-

only trains by 2040.

Adding the powerpacks to trains

allows railway networks to be

partially electrified without the

need for expensive overhead

infrastructure.

The Institution of Mechanical

Engineers says that 42% of

Britain’s rail network is currently

electrified, which means that the

country lags behind electrification

rates in other European nations.

Last year the British government

scrapped electrification projects

in some parts of the country,

saying it would look to hybrid

technology trains instead.

Carige remains mired in problems that plagued much of Italy’s fi nancial industry, long aft er most other major lenders executed turnarounds or were absorbed or rescued with the state’s help

BUSINESS15Gulf Times

Thursday, September 20, 2018

QIB wins two awards at 7th New Age Banking SummitQatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has won two awards from the ‘New Age Banking & Finance Awards 2018’ as part of the seventh edition of the New Age Banking Summit Qatar, which was supported by Qatar Central Bank, and Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA). QIB was recognised through the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Qatar’ and ‘Excellence in Mobile Banking’ awards.The summit is a knowledge-sharing platform that highlights challenges and opportunities facing the banking industry in the region. QIB Group Chief Risk off icer Rakesh Sanghvi participated as a panellist and shared his expertise and knowledge on the banking industry and the evolving financial ecosystem in the digital age.QIB Group CEO Bassel Gamal said, “We are pleased to be recognised

for our eff orts and performance. QIB is committed to serving the Qatari community and off ering Shariah-compliant products and services that empower our customers and evolve with the fast-paced digital developments in the industry. We will continue to seek innovative and creative solutions to meet the various needs of our customers.” The prestigious award recognises QIB’s steady growth and impact on the Islamic banking industry in Qatar and reflects the bank’s leading financial performance where it currently holds a 42.3% share of the Islamic banking sector and approximately 11% of the total domestic banking sector in Qatar. Within the first half of 2018, the bank achieved a net profit of QR1.32bn, representing a growth of 13.8% over

the first half of 2017. QIB was awarded for its innovative mobile app, designed to meet the ever-changing needs of its clients. The prestigious award marks QIB’s continuous eff orts for introducing convenient solutions to meet the various needs of its customers. QIB’s mobile app has been tailored to minimise the need for customers to visit the bank, allowing them to access QIB’s products and services instantly and conveniently. Since last year, QIB has introduced several new innovative features to its mobile banking app, helping customers manage their money quickly and easily. With the convince of the QIB’s mobile app, customer can view their overall net-worth, create and manage beneficiaries for local and international transfers, enable card-less transactions

(e-cash), activate magnetic stripe for debit and credit cards to ease the use of cards internationally, activate and deactivate any card for increased security, book a visit to branch, and logging into the app through face ID or fingerprint.These features were introduced to meet the customers’ financial needs in a fast, eff icient, and secured way. To further enhance the banking experience, QIB’s mobile app users are eligible to open new accounts, book a fixed deposit, or subscribe to a Certificate of Deposits through a few easy steps. With equal importance, the new design of the mobile app is intuitive and allows the customer to complete any task with much fewer taps and much faster than before. QIB receiving the awards at the 7th edition of New Age Banking Summit.

QIIB bags ‘Best Bank in Qatar Award in Liquidity’QIIB has won the “Best Bank in Qatar Award in Liquidity” at the ‘New Age Banking Summit’, which was held in Doha on Tuesday.QIIB chief of business development Omar Abdulaziz al-Meer received the award during the summit, which was organised in co-operation with Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA).The award was presented to QIIB based on the research prepared by Gulf Baader Capital Markets (GBCM), an investment services company, regarding liquidity in various Qatari banks based on some 15 diff erent financial criteria.The research showed that QIIB has done well in terms of liquidity and deserves the award in the category.Commenting on QIIB’s award win, deputy CEO Jamal al-Jamal said, “We are very pleased that our strategic steps have succeeded in further strengthening our financial position and leadership in many areas, including liquidity. We are certainly aiming for much more and working in accordance with our plans to enhance our position and increase our presence”.“We are part of the Qatari banking sector, which has proven according to all experts, to be a successful, dynamic and eff icient sector capable of overcoming all challenges and achieving growth rates that are the best in the region, while maintaining at the same time a high level of

eff ective co-operation with all economic sectors in the country in order to finance various projects and increase economic growth rates”, he added. Al-Jamal pointed out that in the past few years, QIIB made continual leaps in most of its budget items and has achieved stable growth rates. It aspires and works to achieve more by focusing on the local market and financing various projects, whether they are large, small or medium. The Bank was able to obtain the best credit ratings, which confirmed the strength of its financial position”.Al-Jamal expressed confidence that “QIIB will continue its successful journey and eff ective contribution to the Qatari economy, achieving the best returns for shareholders and the best innovative services and products, for both individual and corporate customers”.

JPMorgan faces $6mn bribe allegation from Libya oil fundBloombergLondon

The Libyan Investment Authority sued JPMorgan Chase & Co in London, saying the lender paid more than $6mn in bribes to secure a $200mn bond deal.JPMorgan’s Bear Stearns sent the payments to businessman Walid al-Giahmi – a close friend of the Gaddafi regime – to arrange deals in a contract that was no more than a “sham” agreement, according to London court documents released on Tuesday. The bank has until next month to submit defence documents in the case, which was filed in April. A spokesman declined to comment.The LIA, an oil wealth fund set up under former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is pursuing a number of claims against major banks seeking to nullify unprofitable deals that may have been influenced by bribes. Societe Generale SA paid more than $1.7bn in settlements and regulators’ fines over claims the bank paid a bribe to Giahmi to arrange deals.The Libyans say Giahmi may have acted “in the same way” on five sets of transactions involving other lenders, according to filings. Giahmi had personal

connections with the Qaddafi family and regime, including Gaddafi’s son Saif al- Islam. Bear Stearns raised $200mn for the LIA in five-year notes after the services agreement with Giahmi was signed in July 2007. Neither Giahmi nor his firm Lands Company “provided any legitimate services to Bear Stearns,” according to the LIA’s complaint.Instead, Giahmi bribed and intimidated the fund’s executive director Mustafa Zarti, other LIA executives and the head of an alternative investment team to enter into the bond agreements, the LIA said.Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan bought at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, didn’t need the structuring services supposedly provided by Giahmi’s firm, the LIA said. While Bear Stearns International made a series of payments before the acquisition, JPMorgan Chase Bank paid the remaining $2mn tranche in 2009, according to the lawsuit.The lender “knew or at the very least suspected that the Lands Company payments were fraudulent and corrupt payments,” the fund said.The oil wealth fund hasn’t been successful in all of its recent claims. A lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc that sought to recoup lost investments was thrown out in 2016.

Al-Meer receives “Best Bank in Qatar Award in Liquidity” at the ‘New Age Banking Summit’ in Doha on Tuesday.

Al-Jamal: Strategic steps.

Qatar’s banking sector remains ‘resilient and healthy’, says QNBBy Pratap JohnChief Business Reporter

With credit continuing to fl ow, liquidity ample and asset quality and profi t-

ability robust, Qatar’s banking sector remains “resilient and healthy”, QNB said in its ‘Qatar Economic Insight – September’.

Despite the economic blockade, deposit growth was a buoyant 13.2% in 2017 versus solid loan growth of 8.5%.

With deposit growth outstripping loan growth, the system-wide loan-

to-deposit ratio fell back to around 110% and the liquidity environment improved, QNB said.

Timely intervention from the au-thorities supported the fi nancial sys-tem’s adjustment, QNB said.

Robust public-sector deposit mo-bilisation (up 69.6%) more than made up for the withdrawal of non-resident deposits from the blockading econo-mies, underscoring the fi nancial sys-tem’s resilience.

The funding structure of the bank-ing sector also changed favourably in 2017 with the share of funded liabili-ties in long-term maturities rising to around 18% from around 11%.

Other indicators attest to the soundness of the fi nancial system, QNB said.

The banking system remains well capitalised with banks’ capital ad-equacy ratio (CAR) rising to 16.8% in 2017; up from 16.1% in 2016 and well above Basel III guidelines.

Asset quality also remains high with non-performing loans (NPLs) steady at 1.7% of capital last year. Profi tabil-ity remains solid with returns on eq-uity (ROE) close to 14%.

Helped by higher hydrocarbon rev-enues, deposit growth of around 6% is expected in 2018, ticking higher to 7.5% in 2019.

Solid loan growth of 5% is expected this year, fi rming to 7% in 2019 helped by higher credit demand in both the public and the private sector, QNB said.

“Deposit of 6% and loan growth of 5% expected this year should result in a further decline in the loan-to-de-posit ratio,” the report said.

“Government policies targeted to strengthen the private sector and on-going infrastructure projects will sup-port credit demand.

The loan-to-deposit ratio is ex-pected to slip a little as deposit growth marginally outstrips loan growth,” QNB said.

Qicca holds seminar on arbitrator’s qualities

The Qatar International Centre of Conciliation and Arbitra-tion (Qicca) has organised a

seminar on morals and qualities of the arbitrator at the Qatar Chamber headquarters.

The seminar was attended by Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani and Qicca board member for international relations Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani, as well as number of lawyers, arbitra-tors, and students from Ahmed bin Mohamed Military College.

Qicca assistant secretary general Ibrahim Shahbik said Qicca is keen to provide seminars that discuss ar-bitration-related issues, noting that the centre’s main role is to prepare and qualify arbitrators.

He noted that arbitration process is based on a number of professional criteria and rules, which should be taken into account. He affi rmed that arbitration becomes a main means for settling disputes related to trad-ing, engineering, marine contracts.

Engineer Abdulla al-Mehshadi explained in his presentation the conditions and requirements to be fulfi lled by an arbitrator to optimally accomplish the arbitration process.

He noted that the New Arbitration Law stipulates many legal conditions

“that an arbitrator could enjoy.” These requirements include “full ca-pacity” and non-conviction of a fi nal judgment in a felony or misdemean-our against honour or trust, “even if he has been rehabilitated.”

He also pointed to the require-ments of judicial nature, which is mentioned in Paragraph 3 of Arti-

cle 11 of the Arbitration Law, which stressed the need for the arbitrator to enjoy independence, neutrality, and commitment, noting that the arbitrator may not step aside from the arbitration process after his ap-proval without an acceptable reason.

He also touched on the require-ments agreed by both parties that

don’t contradict with requirements that are based on legal or judicial na-ture.

During his discussion, engineer Khalid al-Nasr focused on ethics that must be observed by the arbi-trator such as effi ciency, eff ective-ness, commitment, integrity, justice, neutrality, and integrity.

Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani and Qicca board member for international relations Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani join lawyers, arbitrators, and students from Ahmed bin Mohamed Military College during a seminar held at Qatar Chamber yesterday.

Deposit of 6% and loan growth of 5% expected this year should result in a further decline in the loan-to-deposit ratio, QNB’s ‘Qatar Economic Insight’ shows. PICTURE: Nasar TK

BUSINESSThursday, September 20, 2018

GULF TIMES

Banks need to redefi ne their business models, says Doha Bank CEOBanks need to manage the

change by redefi ning their business models in view of

the industry’s transition from be-ing old traditional branch business to highly advanced automated cus-tomer centric experience, according to Doha Bank group chief executive Dr R Seetharaman.

“The fourth industrial revolution combines advanced technologies in innovative ways, dramatically re-shaping the way people live, work and relate to one another...Banks need to manage the change by re-defi ning their business models to manage various stake holders such as customers, regulator and share-holders,” said Seetharaman, who received ‘New Age Banker’ award at the recently-concluded New Age Banking Seminar.

Asserting that to adopt to the digital changes “either you need to be quick or dead”; he said realign-ment of resources will happen in the light of technology developments.

On crypto currencies, he said currencies are a barometer of economy and should not be tool for speculation.

Highlighting that technology should be an enabler and not a me-dium for exchange, Seetharaman said “if crypto currencies are meas-ured and managed within a frame-work then it is acceptable. Banks will end up as B2B models.”

Financial institutions worldwide are realising that they need focus on

a diff erent sort of innovation, bet-ter technology, and modernise in-frastructure and improve customer experience, according to him.

He said the banking business models are changing globally from being old traditional branch busi-ness to highly advanced automated

customer centric experience for performing day-to-day banking activities.

Finding that fintech, Internet of

things, block chain and artificial intelligence are some of the major technological developments, he said robotics, enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning, is proving to be a game changer that can bring “unique operational efficiencies” to the financial serv-ices industry. Accelerating digital ecosystem development could lead to cashless economies, he added.

Fintech sector is one of the most happening sectors across the globe, he said, adding fintech would continue to disrupt banks, they have also become technology providers, competing with other fintech firms and sometimes col-laborating or acquiring them to roll out shared platforms to enable services.

“Banks and the fi nancial regula-tors should address the trade-off between convenience and security when it comes to digital banking. From compliance perspective banks and the regulators have to deal with questions arising from digital bank-ing,” he said.

To protect customers, thwart or-ganised criminals and ensure fi nan-cial stability, prudential regulators and legislators need to ensure that regulation is future-proofed for the digital age, he said, suggesting banks need to redefi ne their busi-ness models to adapt themselves to the digital ecosystem and “hence digital governance is the need of the hour.”

Nakilat actively participates in Gastech 2018 exhibition and conferenceNakilat is participating in the Gastech 2018 Exhibition and Conference, which will conclude today in Barcelona, Spain.One of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG)-centric events globally, Gastech attracts more than 30,000 professionals from the energy industry, providing a strategic platform to discuss current industry topics and display the latest technological innovations.The company participated in a panel discussion on “Understanding how emerging, fragmenting and diversifying markets are creating a new LNG customer landscape”, highlighting the substantial role of energy transportation companies within the LNG supply chain in meeting the growing global demand.Nakilat also provides integrated maritime solutions through its local joint ventures, off ering ship repair, off shore repair and fabrication, as well as ship building at its world-class Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard, as well as towage, shipping agency and logistics services; thereby adding strategic value to Qatar’s shipping and maritime sector.Gastech provides an excellent opportunity for Nakilat to network with industry peers, engage in industry discussions and generate business opportunities. The company’s active participation in such strategic global events comes as part of its vision to be a global leader and provider of choice for energy transportation and maritime services. Qatar delegation pose for a photograph at Gastech, which will conclude in Barcelona today.

Sheikh Khalid leads Qatargas delegation at GastechQatargas is participating in the

30th edition of the Gastech

Conference and Exhibition,

which will conclude today in

Barcelona, Spain.

Qatargas’ delegation was led

by Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa al-

Thani, Qatargas chief executive.

During the conference, a joint

technical paper on the ‘Unique

Excursions from the typical Hy-

drocarbon Vapour-Liquid sepa-

ration characteristics’ was pre-

sented by Salihin Mohammed

Ismail, senior unit engineer and

Hamad Salman al-Mohannadi,

surveillance engineer from the

Engineering Department. The

paper explored the technicali-

ties behind the hydrocarbon

vapour – liquid separation.

Gastech is a key event for the

international oil and gas indus-

try, and a global meeting place

for energy professionals work-

ing in the natural gas cycle.

Doha Bank being ‘conservative’ on dividendsBloombergDubai

Doha Bank is taking a conservative approach to dividend payouts amid a prolonged and unjust regional standoff , its chief executive

offi cer said.“Directors have given a cautious look to the divi-

dend policy and they want to be conservative on the dividend payout as well,” Raghavan Seetharaman said in an interview in Doha.

The bank expects its expansion in Qatar off set-ting a minor contraction in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the CEO said.

The bank has shrunk its operations in the UAE to the “bare minimum,” Seetharaman said, as it seeks to adapt after neighbouring Gulf states cut diplo-matic relations and closed transport routes with the country in June last year.

Loan-loss provisions will be “marginally up” over coming quarters as the company adjusts to the introduction of new accounting standards and a change in behaviour from customers in GCC coun-tries outside Qatar, he said.

Doha Bank will continue to take a “very cautious approach” to provisioning for its branches outside Qatar, after setting aside more funds for potential loan losses contributed to a 75% drop in second-quarter profi t, Seetharaman said. “Once we have diff usion of the crisis and everything is restored, perhaps then we can write it back,” he said.

While the lender doesn’t see the need to merge with another institution because it has enough capital, the changing “face of fi nancial services” will call for consolidation in the industry with the introduction of IFRS 9, new capital rules and in-creased use of digital-banking services, Seethara-man said.

Lenders across the region are undergoing possibly the biggest overhaul yet, with at least half a dozen banks involved in takeover or merger talks.

Qatar has a high ratio of banks to citizens than the rest of the region, with 18 local and international lenders serving 2.7mn people. “I am not seeing the possibility at this point but I am not ruling out in the medium- and long-term,” Seetharaman said.

Seetharaman speaking after receiving the ‘New Age Banker’ award at the seminar.

Turkish banks agree to help businesses with loan restructuringReutersIstanbul

Turkey’s banks agreed to help businesses that are struggling

to pay off debt, a move that sent shares of lenders sharply higher yesterday as investors bet it could ease bad loans.

Turkey’s banks face huge bad debt after the lira plunged 40% this year, driv-ing up the cost for compa-nies to service their foreign currency loans.

JPMorgan estimates that the private sector has around $146bn in external debt ma-turing in the year to July 2019.

The agreement, which went into effect on Wednes-day, regulates the frame-

work for loan restructur-ings, taking into account recent market develop-ments and their effects on the Turkish economy, the TBB banking association said in a statement, without elaborating.

Banks and financial in-stitutions that have signed the agreement account for 90% of outstanding loans, with the remainder expect-ed to sign shortly, the TBB said.

The Istanbul bourse’s in-dex of bank stocks surged 6.4% following the an-nouncement, its biggest one-day advance in almost two months.

The agreement eased some worries over systemic risks to the banking sector, one banking analyst said, adding it could mean lower loan-

loss provisions — the money banks set aside to cover bad loans.

“Because a serious amount of provisions would need to be allocated for these loans, these provisions may be freed up and this would refl ect positively on the banks’ net income,” said the analyst.

Ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch have both sounded alarm about the outlook for banks.

Fitch has estimated that banks’ foreign-currency lending stood at around 43% of all loans.

Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said he does not expect any problems in the banking sector and that Ankara would be willing to step in with support in the event of a problem.