PAGE | 23PAGE | 22KPMG signs

MoU with AFG College

Al Attiyah Foundation hosts Quarterly CEO Roundtable

QNB gets approval for FOL cap increaseH E Ali Shareef Al Emadi (second right), Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Directors, QNB; Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani (centre), Vice Chairman, QNB; and Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, Board Member with other board members during QNB extraordinary general assembly meeting in Doha yesterday. The QNB Group shareholders have approved the recommendation to increase non-Qatari ownership limit/ foreign ownership limit (FOL) from 25 percent to 49 percent. The shareholders also approved the increase of single ownership limit from 2 percent to 5 percent, in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. The Extraordinary General Assembly meeting approved all proposed amendments to the bank’s Articles of Association, QNB Group said in a statement.

BUSINESSWednesday 18 April 2018

Commercial Bank records QR405m net profit in Q1THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Commercial Bank, its subsidiaries and associates reported a net profit of QR405m for the first quarter of the year ended March 2018, a 345 percent jump as compared to QR91m posted for the same period in 2017.

The Group’s total assets rose by 8.4 percent to QR146.3bn froma year ago. Customer loans and advances grew by 13.0 percent to QR92.7bn.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Com-mercial Bank, said the Qatari economy is resilient with GDP growth revised upwards to 2.8 percent for 2018, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the region. Confidence in Qatar’s economy prevails,

reflected by the strong appetite for Qatari bonds. The Bank had a strong start to 2018, with top line growth and operating prof-itability on the rise for the fifth sequential quarter, thanks in part to the bank’s strong franchise and balance sheet, as well as prudent management of liquidity.

“Looking ahead to 2018 and beyond, the projected growth of the private sector will present several opportunities for the Bank to finance the expansion of business in the country”, he said.

Hussain Al Fardan, Com-mercial Bank’s Vice Chairman, added, “Commercial Bank had an excellent start to the year and continued with the execution of its 5-year strategic plan. The bank reported its fifth sequential quarter of increased operating profitability with strong asset

growth, a stable funding platform and increased efficiencies across the operating business.” Net operating income for the Group increased by 3.8 percent to QR919m for the quarter, up from QR885m posted in the same period in 2017. Net interest income for the Group increased by 10.1 percent to QR659m,, driven mainly by strong loan growth. Net interest margin is 2.3 percent for the quarter, an increase of 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Non-interest income for the Group decreased by 9.4 percent to QR260m. The overall decrease in non-interest income was mainly due to lower income from investment securities as equity holdings were scaled down in line with the strategic plan and foreign exchange income.

Total operating expenses

were tightly managed at a Group level, down 12.4 percent to QR 311m. Costs reductions were pri-marily driven by lower staff and administrative expenses.

The Group’s net provisions for loans and advances decreased by 53.7 percent to QR222m. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio increased to 5.3 percent in the

quarter ended 31 March 2018 compared to 5.0 percent for the same period in 2017. The loan coverage ratio increased to 86.4

percent compared to 85.9 percent from a year ago. The Group’s total asset growth was driven mainly by an increase in loans and advances and in investment secu-rities. The investment securities increased by 17.7 percent to QR20.2bn on year-on-year. The increase is mainly in Government bonds. The Group’s customer deposits increased by 10.3 percent to QR79.3bn for the quarter, com-pared with QR71.9bn for the same period last year.

Joseph Abraham, Com-mercial Bank’s Group Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am pleased to report a strong business performance for the first quarter of the year, a clear indicator that we have the right strategy in place and the right team to implement it.

→ CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

The Commercial Bank Plaza in West Bay, Doha.

Net operating income for the Group increased by 3.8% to QR919m for the quarter, up from QR885m posted in the same period in 2017.

Japanese traders ask Rusal to stop shipping aluminiumREUTERS

TOKYO: Major Japanese trading houses have asked Russia’s United Company Rusal to stop shipping refined aluminium and other products in light of US sanctions on the world’s No.2 producer and are scrambling to secure metal elsewhere, industry sources said.

The United States imposed major sanctions on April 6 against seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or

control, saying they were prof-iting from a Russian state engaged in “malign activities” around the world. This included Oleg Deripaska, his Hong Kong-listed company Rusal and his new holding company En+ Group.

This has left many Japanese buyers with concerns about tightening availability, nearly doubling domestic spot pre-miums for aluminium and lifting global prices by a fifth.

“We have requested Rusal

stop shipments of aluminium for our term contracts as we can’t make payment in US dollars and we don’t want to take the risk of becoming a secondary sanction target by the United States,” said a source at a trading house, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Another source with direct knowledge of the matter also said major Japanese trading houses have asked Rusal to stop shipments for the same reason.

Rusal in Moscow declined to

comment on the matter. Rusal’s Japanese clients include trading house such as Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp, Sumitomo Corp and Mitsui & Co.

Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Mitsui declined to comment, saying they do not talk about specific commercial deals. “We are holding internal discussions on what actions are needed to take,” a Sumitomo spokesman said. The trading house is also talking with customers about alternative supplies, he said.

Vodafone Qatar tops GCC M&A deal in Q1SATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The total number of closed M&A transactions in the GCC in first quarter of 2018 grew by 38 percent compared to Q1, 2017.

One of the top five reported deal values during the first quarter was the $371m, involving Qatar Foun-dation acquiring 51 percent of Vodafone’s stake in its Qatari operations, Kuwait Finance Centre’s (Markaz) GCC M&A report for the first quarter of 2018 noted yesterday.

GCC acquirers accounted for 67 percent of the total closed transactions during Q1, 2018. The industrials and healthcare sectors witnessed the highest number of trans-act ions , col lect ively accounting for 32 percent of the total transactions. The real estate, education and telecom-munication services sectors, each accounted for 3 percent of the total number of trans-actions during the first quarter.

Each of the GCC acquirers seemed to have a different appetite with regards to M&A transactions during the first quarter. Qatari, Kuwaiti, Emirati and Omani acquirers seemed to prefer investing within their respective home country, according to Markaz.

There were a total of 12 announced transactions in the pipeline during Q1, 2018, rep-resenting a 29 percent decline

in the number of announced transaction compared to Q4, 2017.

Two of the top transactions involved foreign buyers, one including the acquisition of Dalma Energy Oman and the other included the acquisition of Union Cement Company. Most of the top transactions were closed and were for majority stakes.

The first quarter witnessed a 43 percent increase in the number of completed transac-tions by foreign buyers (read non-GCC buyers) compared to Q1, 2017. In comparison to Q4, 2017, the number of such trans-actions increased by 67 percent.

Foreign acquirers didn’t engage in any closed transac-tions involving targets in Bahrain and Qatar during Q1, 2018.

UAE was the most prev-alent target country among the top transactions attracting buyers from India, Zimbabwe and China. Transactions in the region involved targets in the Energy, Industrials, Financials, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.

GCC acquirers accounted for 67 percent of the total number of transactions during the first quarter. Foreign acquirers accounted for 28 percent of the total number of transactions during the period, compared to 21 percent during Q4, 2017. However, buyer information was not available for 6 percent of the transac-tions in Q1, 2018.

22 WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

Tech entrepreneurs key to

Qatar’s economic developmentTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: As Qatar progresses towards its ambitious National Vision 2030 plan for a more diversified, knowledge-based and sustainable economy, there are boundless opportunities for technology pioneers and inno-vators to play a leading role in the country’s economic devel-opment.

That was the message from the keynote address on day two of the inaugural Qatar-India Business and Investment Con-ference (QIBIC), organised by the Indian Business & Profes-sionals Council (IBPC) in Qatar, and Reach Events, in collabo-ration with the Indian Embassy in Qatar. The agenda-setting forum was created to explore new and innovative ways of building on a history of positive bilateral diplomacy between the two nations and fostering entrepreneurship.

TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education India @2030, delivered the keynote address ‘How tech entrepre-neurs will create a $10 trillion economy’ on the second day of the summit at Rotana City Center Doha.

The keynote address was followed by a thought-leading panel discussion titled ‘Tech-nology and Innovation’, focusing

on the latest trends boosting technology and innovation in Qatar. Moderated by Maha Al Sulaiti from Qatar National Bank, the discussion session involved high-caliber lumi-naries including Sanjay Jain: Chief Innovation Officer- Center for Innovation, Incubation & E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p I I M Ahmedabad; and Visham Sikand- Founder, Goals 101.

The final session of the two-day conference, ‘Infra-structure: New Tides of Oppor-tunity’ attended by Sujoy Bose, CEO, National Investment & Infrastructure Fund of India, NIIF who gave a keynote speech. Bose was then joined by pan-elists from Qatar National Bank Group (QNB) to discuss the

possibilities for investors in both Qatar and India.

In his keynote speech Bose focused on the importance of infrastructure and that all the technologies have to depend on good infrastructure services so it can flourish and this creates so many opportunities for coun-tries. He confirmed that infra-structures has only started to develop properly three decades ago and the quality of maturity in decision making on infra-structure started improving.

The event concluded with an address from P Kumran, Indian Ambassador to Qatar, in which he outlined the successful first staging of QIBIC, and with a speech by Ali Ibrahim Abdullah Al Malki, Independent Director, Board of Directors, Doha Bank who focused on the importance of Qatar-India relations which both need to explore more each other’s capabilities and for-malize the bilateral relations.

The Indian Ambassador said: “It is the first time an Investment and Business Con-ference happens between the Embassy and IPBC, and we were very happy with the quality of panel discussions and speakers from Qatar and India as well as the type of participation from the business community which encourages us to hold this con-ference again in the future.”

One of the panel sessions in progress at the QIBIC, yesterday.

Woqod to increase foreign ownership limitTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Board of Directors of Qatar Fuel (Woqod) has recommended the share-holders to increase the percentage of non-Qatari ownership to 49 percent and also to increase the maximum limit of individual ownership to 1 percent of Woqod share capital, Woqod’s Chief Exec-utive officer Saad Rashid Al Muhannadi announced yesterday.

Al Muhannadi indicated that these recommendations

came in order to give effect to the instructions of Qatar Petroleum to its listed affiliate companies, and also to address the request of Qatar Stock Exchange to undertake the said amendments.

The Woqod CEO said an Extra Ordinary General Assembly meeting will be held on May 6 at the Woqod Tower to seek the approval of the shareholders for the amendment of articles. Cur-rently, the company’s non-Qatari ownership limit is capped at 25 percent.

KPMG signs MoU with AFG CollegeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: As part of KPMG in Qatar’s ongoing commitment to communities, the firm has signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with AFG College with the University of Aberdeen, which outlines a framework for the two organizations to provide students with crucial insight into the professional environment through work experience and guest lectures.

KPMG in Qatar is one of the largest Audit, Tax and Advisory services firms in the country and supporting education is a

primary focus of its corporate citizenship programme, locally and globally.

On the signing, Country Senior Partner Ahmed Abu-Sharkh said; “It is a great priv-ilege to be able to support young Qataris and Qatar residents from AFG College with the Uni-versity of Aberdeen, as they carry out their studies and prepare to embark on their careers. At KPMG in Qatar we believe in nurturing great talent and recognize that experience in an international organization not only provides students with insight into their chosen field

and how business done, but can also give them a competitive edge when applying for jobs. We have been pleased to offer per-manent employment to a number of students, who started with KPMG as interns from Qatari universities in the past, and they have been amongst the brightest and most hard-working graduates we have employed.”

Dr Sheika Aisha bint Faleh Al Thani, Chairperson and Founder of the Al Faleh Group said: “At AFG College with the University of Aberdeen, we believe in fos-tering a learning environment

which encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030. Working with KPMG offers many mutual benefits and will allow our students to put theory into practice, whilst gaining val-uable exposure to a professional working environment.”

The MOU, which was signed by Dr Sheika Aisha and Ahmed Abu Sharkh (KPMG), outlines a number of areas for mutual col-laboration to support AFG College with the University of Aberdeen in developing students including internships and guest lectures.

Dr Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh Al Thani (right), Chairperson and Founder of the Al Faleh Group; with Ahmed Abu Sharkh, Senior Country Partner, KPMG.

The agenda-setting forum was created to explore new and innovative ways of building on a history of positive bilateral diplomacy between the two nations and fostering entrepreneurship.

Oil steadies as risk of Mideast strife ebbsBLOOMBERG

NEW YORK: Oil was little changed in New York, steadying after the biggest loss in more than a week as concerns about Middle East strife receded and hints that Opec may further extend its output cuts have surfaced.

Geopolitical strifein the Mideast led to a higher risk premium in the market last week, which is now deflating. At the same time, investors are gearing up for a Friday pro-ducer meeting in the midst of comments from Kuwait that Opec and allied producers will discuss prolonging their deal to reduce output into 2019.

“Some of the geopolitical risk West Texas Intermediate for May delivery dropped 3 cents to $66.19 a barrel at 11:02 a.m. on the New York Mer-cantile Exchange. Brent for June settlement rose 21 cents to $71.57 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Euro climbs above $1.24 to 3-week highREUTERS

LONDON: The Euro rose above $1.24 to a three-week high yesterday after solid Chinese economic data and receding worries about more US strikes in Syria revived risk sentiment, although a monthly survey of German investor sentiment undercut the optimism.

With peripheral bond yields falling to multi-week lows, investors resumed buying the euro, nearly pulling it out of a narrow trading range in which it has been trapped for weeks.

Holding above $1.24 should encourage euro bulls again after a rally earlier this year faltered.

US President Donald Trump’s comments about China and Russia trying to devalue their currencies this week also weighed on the dollar, with investors believing that the U.S. administration wants to see a weaker currency.

That helped the euro rally 0.3 percent to $1.2412, its highest since March 28, before it retreated after a monthly survey showed morale among German investors was deteriorating.

While the dollar was flat against a basket of major cur-rencies, it held near a two-week low tested earlier in the Asian session.

Several Asian currencies, including the Korean Won, rose

on hopes that US-China trade conflict would calm down.

Elsewhere, the Swiss franc fell to its lowest versus the euro since the Swiss National Bank scrapped its currency peg in January 2015. Sterling reached a new post-Brexit referendum high.

The franc, which analysts expect to fall further as the Swiss central bank sticks to its loose monetary policy even as rivals tighten, slipped 0.2 percent on the day to 1.1905. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 107.06 yen, off the seven-week high of 107.78 yen it touched on Friday, before a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Min-ister Shinzo Abe.

Qatar will need to invest around $9bn in energy sector to meet rising demandSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), the multilateral development bank focused on the energy sector, forecasts that the Mena region will require $260bn of investment to meet rising and suppressed electricity demand.

Apicorp’s latest research note, which focuses on the regional power sector, says in the GCC, governments have coped well with rising electricity demand.

The report noted that Qatar will need to invest around $9bn to add 4.2GW to meet rising demand in the medium term: $6bn in generation and $3bn in transmission and distribution.

The electricity demand and consumption have been growing rapidly in the Mena region,

driven by population growth and urbanisation, rising income levels, industrialisation, and low electricity prices; and while eco-nomic growth has slowed com-pared with historical highs, the International Monetary Fund still expects an increase of 3.2 percent in 2018 and 2019, rising to 3.5 percent in 2022.

The region’s population is also expected to grow at an average rate of 1.5 percent per year in that same period.

In order to meet this rising demand, Apicorp estimates that Mena power capacity will need to expand by an average of 6.4 percent each year between 2018 and 2022, which corresponds to additional capacity of 117GW. Apicorp forecasts that $152bn will be needed to deliver this additional capacity, with a further $108bn needed for transmission and distribution.

Turning to more specific

parts of the Mena region, the GCC dominates the landscape. Whilst it currently represents 47 percent, or 151GW, of current Mena power generating capacity, Apicorp forecasts that the it will need to invest $55bn to create 43GW of additional generating capacity and another $34bn in transmission and dis-tribution over the next five years.

Some countries in the GCC have also taken steps to control demand, as a means of keeping required levels of investment in capacity at manageable levels.

This was the thinking behind the Saudi Arabian government’s most recent round of price increases, as demand had risen significantly on the back of cheap electricity, and with lower oil revenues, subsidizing high levels of consumption is no longer sustainable.

To give an idea of the scale

of the increases, Saudi Arabia increased electricity tariffs from SAR0.05/kWh to SAR0.18/kWh for residential consumption levels below 6,000kWh/month.

The UAE needs to invest at least $33bn to meet its expected additional 16GW capacity requirement over the medium term. The country is pushing strongly to diversify its energy sources in the power mix, and Apicorp estimates that nearly 10GW of capacity additions are already in execution, including 5.6GW of nuclear. Solar power also features heavily in the UAE’s plans and is expected to account for 25 percent of the generation mix once its latest $13.7bn (5GW) solar park is fully commissioned.

In other GCC countries, Kuwait’s generating capacity will need to reach 24GW by 2022, requiring $15bn of investment; Oman’s rising

electricity demand will require an additional 4GW of generating capacity, which Apicorp esti-mates will cost $8bn; and Bahrain will need to grow capacity by 6 percent per annum, with $3bn of investment to meet capacity additions of 1.4GW, bringing the total to 5.8GW by 2022.

In Iraq, the government is prioritising the power sector, following loss of generation and transmission during the war against the so called Islamic State, which has made the gen-erating capacity of the country difficult to assess. Apicorp esti-mates that capacity at the end of 2017 stood at 17GW, meaning an additional 12GW of power-generation capacity is required over the next five years, amounting to $39bn of investment.

Transmission and distri-bution will be especially

important, to ensure adequate power delivery and a reduction in power outages. However, ongoing regional disputes, as well as the outcome of the upcoming elections, will cloud the investment outlook.

Ghassan Al Akwaa, Energy Sector Specialist at Apicorp, commented: “Fiscal challenges have meant that governments are no longer able to support the provision of cheap power. Many countries are accelerating their price reform plans with the aim of liberalising prices in the short term. While these programmes will aim to reduce the fiscal burden on governments, they will also put downward pressure on power demand. Already, electricity demand growth fore-casts in Saudi Arabia has been dramatically revised down-wards to 1.5-2 percent in the next five years, down from over 5-6 percent.”

8,958.00 +2.31 PTS0.03%

QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,226.05 +27.85 PTS0.39%

24,760.36 +187.32 PTS0.76% Dow & Brent before going to press

$66.29 +0.21

MarketWatch

23WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018 BUSINESS

Al Attiyah Foundation hosts Quarterly CEO RoundtableTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Foun-dation for Energy and Sustainable Development hosted its 8th Quarterly CEO Roundtable,exploring the priority steps required to ensure availability and sustainable management of water.

Among the high-rankingpar-ticipants who joined the dis-cussion were representatives fromWoqod, Qatar Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Qatar, Sasol Qatar, Conoco Phillips Qatar,Qatar Shell, Dolphin Energy, Marubeni Corporation, and Hamad Bin Khalifa Uni-versity (HBKU).

“As the leading think tank in the Middle East, I am delighted to host our second CEO Round-table this year. Facilitating open

discussions and sharing knowledge on vital topics is an important step in ensuring there is progress in both industry and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, collaboration and cohesion amongst our members are not only fruitful for all parties, but also for the industry as a whole,” said Vice Chairman Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim, Economic Adviser at Emiri Diwan.

“The Foundation is honoured to be able to play its part in ensuring such collaborations and discussions are possible within Qatar’s Energy Industry,” he added.

In addition to member CEOs, the Al -Attiyah Foundation invited world-renowned guest speakers: Dr Samer Adham, Manager of the Global Water Sustainability Center at Qatar Science and Technology Park;

Nick Carter, Senior Advisor at PwC; and Fady Juez, Managing Director of Metito to share their insights and vision on sustainable water management.

Their combined experience and expertise lead the discus-sions on the steps required to strengthen water security by 2020, water use in energy pro-duction, methods of distillation in the Middle East, and how to

address demand dynamics.While the roundtable

meeting is a closed-door event,

the Al-Attiyah Foundation will publish highlights of the conver-sations held, as well as further

insights on the theme in a white paper that will be available to its Members later this month.

Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim (centre), Economic Adviser at Emiri Diwan along with other officials at the 8th Quarterly CEO Roundtable.

IMF sees solid near-term global growth but risks beyondAFP

WASHINGTON: The global economy is expected to grow at a solid pace through next year, boosted by faster expansion in the United States and Europe, but after that risks will build, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

In the latest update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF still predicts world growth of 3.9 percent in 2018 and 2019, unchanged from January despite raised estimates for US and EU growth.

That is an improvement on the 3.8 percent global growth seen last year.

However, the Fund cautions that the growth “momentum is not assured,” given trade ten-sions between the United States and China and the expected reversal of the positive effects from the US tax cuts.

IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld stressed that the trade conflict could damage the global economy if it broadens to affect other coun-tries, and said even the prospect of a trade war could do harm.

“There’s not going to be any winners coming out of a trade war,” he told reporters, noting that the uncertainty alone could put a damper on investment.

While it is difficult to predict how things will play out, “I suspect if you keep poking at economic expansion it could turn around and bite you,” Obstfeld warned.

The report notes that the sweeping US tax cuts approved in December will fuel higher growth only through next year, and after that will “subtract momentum.” The IMF raised its US forecast by two tenths for both years, to 2.9 percent for 2018 and 2.7 percent for 2019, which follows big upward

revisions in the October report, due to the tax impact.

However, Obstfeld warned the stimulus was “largely tem-porary.” And because the US boost accounts for most of the higher world expansion, beyond 2019 “global growth is projected to gradually decline to 3.7 percent by the end of the forecast horizon,” the report said.

The risks to the global eco-nomic outlook “clearly lean to the downside” beyond the next few quarters, the IMF warns.

Like other advanced econ-omies, the United States will max out growth and return to a more sluggish pace, “held back by aging populations and lack-luster productivity.” And despite the fact increasing world trade helped boost growth in recent years, there has been a rise in public skepticism about the ben-efits, leading to a renegotiation of trade deals and increasing friction.

“That major economies are flirting with trade war at a time of widespread economic expansion may seem para-doxical -- especially when the expansion is so reliant on investment and trade,” Obstfeld said.

“Our strong message at this meeting is there is a multilateral system. Let’s use it and proceed in a collaborative way rather than conflictive way.” IMF chief Christine Lagarde last week warned governments to “steer clear of protectionism in all its forms,” saying the trade frictions hurt poor consumers the most as costs increase, and that they also undermined a system that had broadened prosperity worldwide.

Instead, the IMF argues that the United States and others should respond to anxiety about globalization and technological

advances by “strengthening growth, spreading its benefits more widely, (and) broadening economic opportunity through investments in people,” Obstfeld said. Rather than lower the trade deficit, as Trump has called for, the US trade actions could expand it by another $150bn by 2019, according to the report.

And the Fund warns that a worsening of trade conflict could have broader implications for global growth as well as market confidence.

The report cites the market turbulence in early February and into March amid the growing US-China trade dispute, when US stocks stumbled after surging to repeat records in the first weeks of 2018. The Dow had lost almost 10 percent of its value by the end of March, down from the record 26,616.71 reached on January 26.

The rapid decline should “serve as a cautionary reminder that asset prices can correct rapidly and trigger potentially disruptive portfolio adjust-ments.” In other projections, the IMF upgraded the forecast for the euro area to 2.4 percent for 2018, an upward revision of two tenths compared to the January estimate, as it raised its esti-mates for key members, espe-cially Spain. But the forecast for 2019 was unchanged at 2.0 percent.

Japan’s growth is still seen at a sluggish 1.2 percent this year, after a rare and large upgrade of five tenths in January, slowing to 0.9 percent in 2019.

The forecasts for China and India, key drivers of global growth, were unchanged from January. China is expected to expand 6.6 percent and 6.4 percent this year and next, while India should grow 7.4 percent and 7.8 percent.

Maurice Obstfeld (second right), Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF; Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti (second left), Deputy Director of the Research Department at the IMF; Malhar Nabar (left), Deputy Division Chief of the Research Department at the IMF; and Olga Stankova, Special Assistant to the Director of the IMF Communications Department, hold a press briefing on the World Economic Outlook during the 2018 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group at IMF Headquarters in Washington, DC, yesterday.

The roundtable explored the priority steps required to ensure availability and sustainable management of water.

→ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

“The results of the strong exe-cution of our 5 year strategic plan are seen in Q1 2018 results with a consolidated operating profit of QR608m and a net profit of QR405m, representing a 15 percent and a 345 percent increase over the same period last year, respectively. As we advised last year we have come to the end of the legacy loan book provi-sioning and the normalised credit charge has benefited our bottom line. More importantly we have continued to grow our business strongly with a focus on the gov-ernment and public sector, intro-duced new and innovative products in retail banking as part of our digital agenda and con-tinued our tight focus on effi-ciency driving down our cost

income ratio whilst continuing to invest in our product and infra-structure,” he said.

The first quarter also saw the successful rebranding of ABank to Alternatifbank, as part of a broader strategy to more closely align associates and subsidiaries with the group. “The new man-agement team in Alternatifbank also had positive impact with operating profit increasing to QR85min Q1 2018, up 38 percent compared with the same period last year,” Joseph Abraham said.

“For our Associates, NBO reported a net profit of QR119m for the quarter, slightly impacted by challenging market condi-tions. For UAB, discussions are ongoing to negotiate terms of the potential sale of Commercial Bank’s stake in the bank,” he added.

Commercial Bank records QR405m net profit in Q1

Netflix programmes binge pays off with subscriber surgeREUTERS

LOS ANGELES: Netflix Inc’s blitz of original programmes attracted a surprisingly high 7.4 million new customers from January to March, reas-suring investors who are betting the video-streaming pioneer’s massive spending will fuel growth around the world.

Shares of Netflix jumped more than 7 percent in after-hours trading on Monday to $330.30. The stock is the top performer on the S&P 500 this year, gaining more than 60 percent.

Netflix says it will spend up to $8bn on global TV shows and movies in 2018.

‘Energy Transition Dialogue’ conferenceGerman Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (second right) and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (third right) arrive at the “Energy Transition Dialogue” conference yesterday at the federal foreign office in Berlin, Germany.

24 WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

China to open up auto market as trade tensions simmerREUTERS

BEIJING: China will scrap a limit on foreign ownership of auto-motive ventures by 2022 in a major policy shift to open up the world’s biggest car market, even as trade tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing.

In a move welcomed by Ger-many’s powerful car industry, China’s state planner said yes-terday it would remove foreign ownership caps for companies making fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2018, for makers of commercial vehicles in 2020, and the wider car market by 2022.

China imposed ownership restrictions in 1994, limiting foreign carmakers to owning no more than a 50 percent share of any local venture. Forcing foreign carmakers to work with Chinese firms was designed to help domestic carmakers compete.

The latest policy move marks a new twist in a see-saw week for Chinese trade. The country slapped a temporary fee on US

sorghum yesterday after the United States banned American companies from selling parts to Chinese phone maker ZTE Corp on Monday.

Germany’s BMW, which has a big stake in trade relations between Beijing and Washington as the biggest exporter of vehicles from the United States to China, welcomed the decision.

“We believe a more free and flexible business environment will benefit both Chinese and foreign companies in China and the Chinese economy. BMW will continue pursuing mutual benefit and win-win solutions with the

local partners,” the carmaker said. BMW added it remained committed to expanding a joint venture with China’s BBA and was still discussing how to structure a new partnership for its Mini brand with China’s Great Wall Motors.

Analysts said the main ben-eficiaries, at least in the short term, would be manufacturers focused on new-energy vehicles, including US electric carmaker Tesla, which has been seeking to set up its own plant in Shanghai.

Tesla chief Elon Musk said last month that China’s tough auto rules for foreign businesses

created an uneven playing field as scores of local and interna-tional companies compete for a slice of China’s fast-growing market for “green” cars.

Tesla was not immediately available to comment yesterday.

The looser rules are likely to raise pressure on domestic car-makers, potentially hitting the likes of Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co.

Traditional automakers will need to wait longer for any direct impact and could face more risks than opportunities in ditching their joint venture structures, said James Chao, Asia-Pacific chief at consultancy IHS Markit.

“Foreign companies may already be in a box (in China),” said Chao, adding the joint venture structure was now so ingrained that many might not want to change it.

“While getting a bigger share could be advantageous in terms of boosting profits, they may actually be already too dependent on their Chinese partners to sever those ties.” A spokesman for

Germany’s Volkswagen said: “We will carefully analyse whether this opens up new opportunities for Volkswagen and its brands.” Daimler, parent company of Mer-cedes-Benz, said it was happy with its current business set-up in China, adding it was watching regulatory developments with interest.

A senior General Motors (GM) executive said last week the US carmaker, even without own-ership caps, would not cut ties with local partner SAIC Motor Corp. The source, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter, added GM would not be as suc-cessful in China on its own.

GM also said last week its growth in China was “a result of working with our trusted joint venture partners”.

Japan’s Nissan Motor Co said in a statement it would “monitor how any specific policies develop and will plan accordingly”.

Honda Motor Co said its China business had grown on the back of strong local tie-ups. “At the moment we have no plans to

change our capital relationship,” a spokesman said.

China will also scrap limits on foreign ownership in the ship-building and aircraft industries in 2018, the National Devel-opment and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.

Airbus and Boeing did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The highly symbolic moves in autos come after President Xi Jinping said last week China would scrap ownership limits “as soon as possible”, exciting global auto brands even as Beijing and Washington spar over trade tariffs.

China, which said the easing of autos rules was unrelated to that dispute, is keen to portray itself as open for business. Its ties with the world’s largest economy, though, are becoming increas-ingly fraught.

The United States has banned American companies from selling parts to telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corp for seven years, creating a new fissure in Sino-US ties.

US apartment construction surges in MarchAFP

WASHINGTON: Construction of apartment buildings surged in the United States in March, overwhelming a big drop in work started on single-family homes, according to government data released yesterday.

The rebound last month after the slight decline in Feb-ruary put housing starts just below January’s pace, which was a 15-month high.

Total housing starts rose 1.9 percent in March com-pared to the prior month, to a 1.32 million annual pace, seasonally adjusted, the Com-merce Department said in its monthly report.

That was far higher than the 1.27 million units analysts were expecting, and was driven by construction begun on multi-family units, a vol-atile segment which surged 16.1 percent in the month.

That increase offset the 3.7 percent drop in building of single-family homes, and put the construction pace nearly 11 percent higher than March 2017.

Building permits for single-family homes -- one of the most closely watched numbers in the monthly report as it is a sign of con-struction in the pipeline -- also fell 5.5 percent.

Ian Shepherdson of Pan-theon Macroeconomics said the weak showing for the single-family segment could point to a trend. “Single-family accounts for more than two thirds of housing con-struction so short-term swings in the multi-family numbers can’t overwhelm the trend,” he said in a client note.

“Construction activity tracks sales. So a sustained rise in housing starts in the near-term is unlikely.”

The biggest gains were in the Midwest where housing starts jumped more than 22 percent, which compensated for modest declines in the South and West.

The construction figures are subject to a high degree of uncertainty and officials caution that a trend may take as many as six months to appear.

Data on building permits for projects in the works, which are more reliable, rose 2.5 percent to 1.35 million units, but as with starts this was largely due to a 23 percent spike in permits for multi-unit dwellings.

Tech firms sign deal to protect people from cyber attacksREUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft, Facebook and more than 30 other global technology c o m p a n i e s y e s t e r d a y announced a joint pledge not to assist any government in offensive cyber attacks.

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord, which vows to protect all customers from attacks regardless of geopolitical or criminal motive, follows a year that witnessed an unprece-dented level of destructive cyber attacks, including the global WannaCry worm and the devastating NotPetya attack.

“The devastating attacks from the past year demonstrate that cyber security is not just about what any single company can do but also about what we can all do together,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

“This tech sector accord will help us take a principled path toward more effective steps to work together and defend cus-tomers around the world.” Smith, who helped lead efforts to organise the accord, was expected to discuss the alliance in a speech yesterday at the RSA cyber security conference in San Francisco.

The accord also promised to establish new formal and informal partnerships within the industry and with security researchers to share threats and coordinate vulnerability disclosures.

The pledge builds on an idea for a so-called Digital Geneva Convention Smith rolled out at least year’s RSA conference, a proposal to create an international body to protect civilians from state-sponsored hacking.

Countries, Smith said then, should develop global rules for cyber attacks similar to those established for armed conflict at the 1949 Geneva Convention that followed World War Two.

In addition to Microsoft and Facebook, 32 other companies signed the pledge, including Cisco, Juniper Networks, Oracle, Nokia, SAP, Dell and cyber security firms Symantec, FireEye and Trend Micro.

The list of companies does not include any from Russia, China, Iran or North Korea, widely viewed as the most active in launching destructive cyber attacks against their foes.

Major US technology com-panies Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Twitter also did not sign the pledge.

Goldman Sachs earnings jump in Q1AFP

NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs reported a jump in first-quarter earnings yesterday following a solid performance in several key investment and trading divisions.

Net income for the quarter ending March 31 was $2.7bn, up 26.6 percent from the year-ago period. Revenues were up 25.0 percent to $10bn.

Goldman scored an increase in revenues in its closely-watched fixed income, currency

and commodities, a division that has been slumping in recent quarter. Revenues surged even more in equity trading, boosted by the same wave of stock market volatility that lifted Gold-man’s competitors.

Goldman offset a drop in revenues for advising companies on mergers and acquisitions with higher revenues from under-writing. But the bank reported higher employee expenses as well as non-compensation expenses, due in part to

investments in the bank’s growing online lending business, which aims to grow business connected to everyday consumers.

“Solid performance across our businesses produced strong returns in the first quarter,” said chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.

“We are well positioned to serve our clients as the global economy continues to show strength and central banks unwind certain aspects of policy stimulus.”

Amazon in talks with airline Azul for shipping in BrazilREUTERS

SAO PAULO: Amazon.com Inc is in talks with Brazilian airline Azul SA on shipping goods in the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in the latest sign of the retailer’s big plans in Latin Amer-ica’s largest economy.

The talks with Azul, which serves over 50 percent more Bra-zilian airports than its nearest rival, are the strongest signal yet that Amazon is lining up distri-bution to sell products directly to consumers throughout the country.

It also shows that the US e-commerce company is serious about overcoming the nation’s notorious logistical challenges, including shoddy roads, security problems and a national territory greater than the continental United States.

Representatives for Azul declined to comment on the talks.

Amazon said it did not comment on “rumors or

speculation.” The Seattle-based online retailer has so far waded slowly into Brazil’s highly com-petitive e-commerce market, starting with e-book sales in 2012, adding physical books two years later and offering third-party sales of electronics in October.

E-commerce accounts for around five percent of Brazil’s roughly $300bbn retail market, about half its share in the United States. Yet Brazil’s online sales have doubled in four years and are expected to grow at a double-digit pace in coming years.

Currently, Amazon relies on third-party vendors to ship their own goods sold on its Brazilian website, but that appears to be changing.

In February, Reuters reported that Amazon was looking to lease a 50,000-square-meter ware-house just outside Sao Paulo, in a sign the retailer may bring storage and distribution in-house.In March, Reuters reported that the company met with an

array of manufacturers in Sao Paulo to discuss plans to stock and sell products directly.

Both developments drove down shares in Brazilian e-com-merce competitors, such as Mag-azine Luiza SA and B2W Com-panhia Digital SA. MercadoLibre Inc has also fought Amazon tooth-and-nail in Mexico and Brazil.

By partnering with Azul, Amazon would immediately gain access to a network of more than 100 airports in Brazil, implying its ambitions go far beyond met-ropolitan Sao Paulo.

Azul has built up an 18 percent share of Brazil’s domestic air travel market over the past decade by flying regional jets and turboprop planes into second- and third-tier cities underserved by other carriers.

Azul’s cargo unit, Azul Cargo Express, takes advantage of excess cargo capacity in its pas-senger flights to offer rapid delivery to locations ranging from far-flung Amazonian out-

posts to Brazil’s major metro-politan centers.The company offers shipping to more than 3,200 municipalities, as well as a specialized e-commerce service known as Azul Cargo E-Com-merce. Azul’s hub, Viracopos International Airport, is about a 45-minute drive from the ware-house Amazon has been eyeing northwest of Sao Paulo.

The sources, who requested anonymity as the negotiations

are confidential, did not specify how advanced conversations were, nor did they say if the retailer has also engaged Azul’s rivals.

Competing airlines with Bra-zilian cargo operations include Latam Airlines Group SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA. Last week, Azul announced it has leased two Boeing Co freight air-craft “to support the rapid growth of its cargo business unit.”

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company’s logistics centre in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, in this file picture.

China will remove foreign ownership caps for companies making fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2018, for makers of commercial vehicles in 2020, and the wider car market by 2022.

The looser rules are likely to raise

pressure on domestic

carmakers

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,958.00 0.03 %

QE Total Return Index 15,783.00 0.03 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,263.89 0.22 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,662.26 0.22 %

QE All Share Index 2,643.26 0.33 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 3,014.08 0.35 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,050.24 0.67 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,717.53 0.55 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,867.09 1.64 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,104.48 1.10 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,105.53 0.02 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 5,569.41 0.24 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

17-04-2018Index 8,958.00

Change 2.31

% 0.03

YTD% 5.10

Volume 6,987,971

Value (QAR) 215,541,166.68

Trades 2,897

Up 27 | Down 16 | Unchanged 016-04-2018Index 8,955.69

Change 63.80

% 0.72

YTD% 5.07

Volume 7,900,521

Value (QAR) 213,847,903.46

Trades 3,257

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR157.6108 per grammeSILVER QR1.9530 per gramme

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

All Ordinaries 5934.3 1.3 0.02 6256.5 5834

Cac 40 Index/D 5336 23.04 0.43 5567.03 5038.12

Dj Indu Average 24573.04 212.9 0.87 26616.71 20379.55

Hang Seng Inde/D 30062.75 -252.84 -0.83 33484.08 29129.26

Iseq Overall/D 6686.32 -23.57 -0.35 7257.41 6410.26

Kse 100 Inx/D 45801.73 119.49 0.26 47144.12 40169.62

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

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 5.1882 QR 5.2609

Euro QR 4.4801 QR 4.5424

CA$ QR 2.8753 QR 2.932

Swiss Fr QR 3.7642 QR 3.8177

Yen QR 0.03372 QR 0.03437

Aus$ QR 2.8057 QR 2.8616

Ind Re QR 0.0551 QR 0.0562

Pak Re QR 0.0311 QR 0.0319

Peso QR 0.0692 QR 0.0707

SL Re QR 0.0231 QR 0.0236

Taka QR 0.0428 QR 0.0439

Nep Re QR 0.0344 QR 0.0351

SA Rand QR 0.3001 QR 0.3061

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD

Aban Offs-A/D 171.95 -2.45 181129

Acc Ltd-A/D 1584.6 12.55 20344

Aegis Logis-A/D 282 -0.55 5983

Alembic-B/D 58.7 -0.65 40780

Alok Indus-T/D 3.65 -0.19 98344

Apollo Tyre-A/D 296 -4 466238

Asahi I Glass-/D 355.3 2.15 4080

Ashok Leyland-/D 149.05 -1.85 1572189

Ballarpur In-B/D 13.68 -0.21 90128

Banaras Bead-T/D 62.85 1.1 3200

Bata India-A/D 780 -2.9 28453

Beml Ltd-A/D 1129 -11.9 18812

Bhansali Eng-B/D 194.75 1 204305

Bharat Bijle-B/D 1642 -18.25 5862

Bharat Ele-A/D 139 -0.05 261410

Bharat Heavy-A/D 87.95 -0.6 253632

Bharatgears-B/D 183 -1.6 2695

Bhartiya Int-B/D 410 6 1078

Bom.Burmah-X/D 1267.85 -30.95 50399

Bombay Dyeing-/D 262.95 3.75 543630

Canfin Homes-A/D 444.55 -1.8 45435

Castrol India-/D 210.75 6.65 114205

Century Enka-B/D 371.4 3.75 14939

Century Text-A/D 1224 -4.3 35724

Chambal Fert-A/D 177.55 -0.35 272069

Chola Invest-A/D 1585 10.2 2976

Cipla-A/D 579.9 -3.65 72123

City Union Bk-/D 181 1.05 13774

Colgate-A/D 1099.7 0.15 7376

Container Cor-/D 1365.85 40.85 9546

Dai-X/D 425.3 -8.1 1820

Dcm Shram Ind-/D 213.5 4.5 1730

Dhampur Sugar-/D 113.8 -0.85 51436

Dr. Reddy-A/D 2102.7 1.05 839668

E I H-B/D 201.3 29 848789

E.I.D Parry-A/D 278.4 -3.7 5506

Eicher Motor-A/D 31039.9 -260.2 5839

Eimco Elecon-B/D 446.8 -4.55 5105

Electrosteel-B/D 33.85 4.9 732549

Emco-B/D 12.25 0.5 16389

Escorts Fin-Xt/D 6.93 0.13 6293

Escorts-A/D 978 4.3 232220

Eveready Indu-/D 370 -6.2 17064

F D C-B/D 260.05 0.85 2752

Federal Bank-A/D 99.3 0.8 403173

Ferro Alloys-X/D 6.88 -0.23 154502

Finolex-A/D 656.5 -7.55 3042

Forbes-B/D 3921 -25.9 3301

Gail-A/D 325.25 0.45 39766

Garden P -B/D 36.15 1.15 15507

Godfrey Phil-A/D 874.55 1.5 4558

Goodricke-X/D 351 -1.5 5068

Goodyear I -B/D 1227.45 29.6 27802

Hcl Infosys-A/D 53.6 -0.4 333481

Him.Fut.Comm-A/D 27.5 -0.1 662717

Himat Seide-X/D 393.7 -2.85 2892

Hind Motors-T/D 7.65 -0.13 41103

Hind Org Chem-/D 26.55 0.3 40346

Hind Unilever-/D 1445.75 25.95 54786

Hind.Petrol-A/D 329.95 -1.35 333522

Hindalco-A/D 239.95 0.95 895082

Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1889.95 19.25 153985

Idbi-A/D 71.15 -1.05 1789627

Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 1224.95 21.65 1134

Ifci Ltd-A/D 21.05 0.25 373133

Ift Agro-T/D 836.7 11.4 3515

India Cement-A/D 151.9 0.8 469887

India Glycol-B/D 542.1 0.25 44842

Indian Hotel-A/D 147.2 7.35 1049491

Indo-A/D 96.1 0.95 16346

Indusind-A/D 1863.15 -3.1 17247

J.B.Chemical-B/D 316.8 5.1 2800

Jagson Phar-B/D 30.55 -0.1 1267

Jamnaauto-B/D 86.25 -0.15 476536

Jbf Indu-B/D 111.45 5.3 101861

Jct Ltd-X/D 3.06 0.17 321974

Jindal Drill-B/D 166 -1.95 4606

Jktyre&Ind-A/D 167.1 2.75 283692

Kabra Extr-B/D 122.15 -0.5 2773

Kajaria Cer-A/D 570 3.85 8860

Kakatiya Cem-B/D 264 1.75 2389

Kalpat Power-B/D 473 3.7 47338

Kalyani Stel-B/D 314.1 -1.75 13386

Kanoria Chem-B/D 73 1.55 4423

Kg Denim-X/D 48.35 -0.25 4968

Kilburnengg-X/D 74.85 -0.4 3078

Kopran-B/D 73.85 5.1 259953

Lakshmi Mach-A/D 7519 -44.2 1782

Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 39.5 0.3 4024

Lgb Broth-B/D 1183.55 -14.65 1102

Lloyd Metal-X/D 17.65 -0.1 684631

Lupin-A/D 804.3 10.95 128567

Lyka Labs-B/D 48.1 0 16061

Mah.Seamless-B/D 472.55 9.55 1657

Mangalam Cem-B/D 314 3.25 2244

Maral Overs-B/D 36.25 0.35 3975

Mastek-B/D 593.25 0.9 151041

Max Financial-/D 430.1 3.8 26527

Mrpl-A/D 109.3 0.25 89659

Nahar Spg.-B/D 93.45 -1.4 5882

Nation Alum -A/D 78 1.25 1879970

Navneet Edu-B/D 149 -1.15 2155

Nrb Bearings-B/D 169.3 -3.4 20987

O N G C-A/D 180.8 -0.7 108716

Oil Country-B/D 29.25 0.25 7810

Onward Tech-B/D 92.85 -0.35 5388

Orchid Pharm-M/D 13.05 0.4 70436

Orient Hotel-B/D 55.1 8.35 310156

Patspin India-/D 18.9 -0.95 2440

Punjab Chem.-X/D 448 12.1 1404

Radico Khait-A/D 383.4 -0.15 107661

Rallis India-A/D 229 -1.3 15686

Rallis India-A/D 229 -1.3 15686

Reliance Indus/D 468.15 0.5 108201

Ruchi Soya-B/D 16 -0.05 159525

Salora Inber-T/D 44.35 1.25 2006

Saur.Cem-X/D 73.45 0.7 23693

Sterling Tool-/D 404.8 0.4 1067

Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 123.1 -0.4 2435

Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 123.1 -0.4 2435

Thirumalai-B/D 2043.1 12.85 19015

Timexgroup-T/D 51.6 2.1 19121

Tinplate-B/D 238.5 2.5 254310

Ucal Fuel-B/D 259 0 10274

Ucal Fuel-B/D 259 0 10274

Ultramarine-X/D 325.85 9 8869

Unitech P -B/D 6.27 0 2658530

Univcable-B/D 142.9 2.9 1028

3I Group/D 895.6 9.4 625994

Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2706 123 895924

Barclays/D 212.7 -1.1 10488314

Bp/D 499.05 2.7 5667465

Brit Am Tobacc/D 4004.5 -38.5 1516021

Bt Group/D 243.3 0.6 3945233

Centrica/D 142.55 2.05 4670704

Hsbc Holdings/D 674.5 2.6 4176522

Land Secs./D 952 3.9 403346

Legal & Genera/D 268.5 0.5 3248009

Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 68 0.32 41861837

Marks & Sp./D 282.2 5.8 4117591

Next/D 5174 110 285583

Pearson/D 767.2 4.2 636726

Prudential/D 1823.5 6 1438398

Rank Group/D 173.8 -1.2 14233

Rentokil Initi/D 269.7 -2.2 1228244

Rolls Royce Pl/D 856.6 -21.2 1261616

Rsa Insrance G/D 645.2 -1.4 603332

Schroders/D 3254 -1 81793

Severn Trent/D 1855.5 0 223457

Smith&Nephew/D 1316.5 7 702781

Smiths Group/D 1503.5 -8.5 419810

Standrd Chart /D 728.8 1.5 1888926

Tate & Lyle/D 555.4 1.8 392443

Tesco/D 237.4 3.7 9340071

Unilever/D 3911.5 3 618332

United Util Gr/D 700.6 -1.8 755086

Vodafone Group/D 207.1 0.5 9744375

Whitbread/D 4198 -20 270107

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

LONDON

25WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018 BUSINESS

26 WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018BUSINESS

BREAK TIME

PBoC announces surprise cut in bank reserve requirementsREUTERS

BEIJING: China’s central bank said yesterday that it will reduce the amount of cash that most commercial banks must hold as reserves, but will require them to use that freed-up liquidity to pay back loans obtained via its medium-term lending facility (MLF).

Whatever funds the banks have left, after paying back their MLF loans, they should use to provide loans to small companies, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said in a statement.

The PBoC’s unexpected decision to cut reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) came

after official data earlier yes-terday showed China’s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.8 percent in the first quarter.

RRRs - currently at 17 percent for large institutions and 15 percent for smaller banks - will be cut by 100 basis points (bps), the PBoC said. The cut will be made on April 25 and will apply to most banks, with the exception of policy lenders such as China Development Bank.

On that day, banks with MLF loans that have not reached maturity are to use the liquidity released by the RRR cut to repay borrowed MLF funds to the PBoC.

The amount of cash freed up by the RRR cut will be slightly

higher than the amount of MLF loans to be repaid, according to the PBoC.

Based on first-quarter data, the MLF loans due to be repaid on the day will be about 900 billion yuan. There will be 400 billion yuan ($63.67bn) in excess of funds released, and most of that cash will go to city-based commercial banks and rural commercial banks, the PBoC said.

Despite the RRR cut, the PBoC said it would maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy.“On the surface, the RRR cut looks neutral because most of it is used to pay back MLFs, but it also shows the PBoC is adjusting its monetary policy to a loosening

bias,” said Xu Gao, a Beijing-based economist at Everbright Securities.

The PBoC’s last RRR adjustment was on January 25 when most banks saw at least a 50 bps cut to their RRRs as long as the lenders granted more loans to smaller firms and rural com-munities. That adjustment was

flagged months in advance in late September.

In a Reuters poll this month, the PBoC was forecast to cut RRRs for all banks by only 50 bps in the fourth quarter of 2018. Analysts had expected two addi-tional 25 bps cuts to follow to then to bring the rate down to 16 percent.

Despite the economy’s solid first-quarter performance, ana-lysts still expect it to lose momentum in coming quarters as authorities force local govern-ments to scale back infrastructure projects to contain their debt and as property sales cool due to strict controls on purchases to fight speculation.

The People’s Bank of China headquarters in Beijing.

Lloyds Banking Group to axe 305 jobs in BritainREUTERS

LONDON: Lloyds Banking Group will cut 305 jobs and close 49 branches in Britain, the latest in a series of reductions to its work-force and network as it promotes its digital services.

Lloyds said in February it would invest £3bn over three years in such digital initiatives, but had not said how many branches or jobs it would axe as part of the cost-cutting strategy.

Lloyds said the plan reflected changes in customer behaviour, with more people using digital services than branches, which are costly to maintain.

“Today’s announcement involves making difficult deci-sions, and we are committed to

working through these changes in a careful and sensitive way,” the bank said in a statement yes-terday regarding the job losses and closures.

The bank said it remained

committed to having the largest branch network among banks in Britain, where it operates around one in every five outlets.

The latest job losses at Brit-ain’s biggest bank follow an

announcement in February that Lloyds cut 465 roles in January.

Banks in Britain have between them slashed thousands of branches in recent years to cut costs, drawing criticism from lawmakers who say closures can leave rural communities without a single bank branch.

Politicians in June 2016 called the closures a “quiet scandal”, citing a Reuters report showing the closures dispropor-tionately affected poorer areas in Britain.

Banks are nonetheless pressing ahead with further cuts, focusing efforts on getting cus-tomers to use mobile apps to do the bulk of their transactions and save branch visits for the most complex of their needs.

A woman seen walking past a row of cash machines outside a branch of Lloyds Bank in Manchester, Britain, in this file picture.

UK economy wins wage boost; unemployment dipsAFP

LONDON: Britain’s economy has won a lift with wage growth outpacing inflation for the first time in a year and the unem-ployment rate remaining at a 43-year low, data showed yesterday.

The official jobless rate stood at 4.2 percent in the three months to the end of February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

That was slightly down from 4.3 percent in the quarter through to the end of January.

“Latest estimates... show that the number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 16,000,

leading to a fall of the unem-ployment rate by 0.1 percentage points,” the ONS said.

Analysts said Tuesday’s data, showing also that average wages grew by 2.8 percent in the reporting period, increased the likelihood of an interest rate hike by the Bank of England next month.

“Wages are now rising ever so slightly faster than inflation -- which on the face of it, implies that the household squeeze has come to an end,” noted ING economist James Smith. Britain’s annual inflation rate stood at 2.7 percent in Feb-ruary. The March reading is scheduled for publication today.

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERCROSSWORD NOVO Pearl Qatar

MALL

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

LANDMARK

ROXY

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

Rampage (2D) 10:00, 11:00am, 12:00noon, 1:30, 3:00, 4:00, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 8:00, 9:00, 9:10, 10:30, 11:30pm & 12:00midnight Black Panther (2D/Action) 10:00am & 2:45pm A Quiet Place (2D/Drama) 12:45, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Peter Rabbit (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pm Pyewacket (2D) 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Stolen Princess (2D) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pm Beast of Burden (2D) 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Submergence (2D) 10:00am, 2:45, 7:30pm & 12:10am Ayla: The Daughter of War (2D) 12:15, 5:00 & 9:45pm Mary & The Witch’s Flower (2D) 10:00am, 12:15, 2:30 & 4:45pm I Kill Giants (2D/Adventure) 7:00pm Samaka Wa Senara (2D/Arabic) 9:15 & 11:15pm Etlouly Barra (2D/Arabic) 12:00noon, 4:00 & 8:00pm Hurricane Heist (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:00 & 6:00pm Acts of Violence (2D/Action) 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Rampage (3D/IMAX) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:45pm

Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 11:30am Subedar Joginder Singh 11:30am & 8:00pm Vikada Kumaran (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Mercury (2D/Tamil) 11:00pm Stolen Princess (2D/Animation) 12:30 & 4:00pm Krishna Arjuna Yudham (2D/Telugu) 2:30pm Mary & The Witch Flower (2D/Animation) 4:30pm Rampage (2D/Action) 5:15, 7:15, 9:30pm & 11:30pmBeast of Burden (2D/Action) 6:15pm October (2D/Hindi) 9:15pm Submergence (2D/Thriller) 7:30pm Pyewacket (2D/Horror) 5:45pm

ROYAL PLAZA

Krishna Arjuna Yudham (2D/Telugu) 2:45pm Mary & The Witch Flower (2D/Animation) 3:00pm Peter Rabbit (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 3:45pmSudani From Nigeria (2D/Malayalam) 4:45 & 11:30pm Stolen Princess (2D/Animation) 5:30 & 7:15pm Rampage (2D/Action) 5:30, 7:15, 9:15 & 11:15pmSamaka Wa Senara (2D/Arabic) 7:30pm Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 9:00pm Pyewacket (2D/Horror) 9:15pm Mercury (2D/Tamil) 11:00pm

October (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 11:00pm Peter Rabbit 3:45pmStolen Princess (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 5:15pm Mary & The Witch Flower (2D/Animation) 3:00pm Sudani From Nigeria (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm Beast of Burden 9:15pmSamaka Wa Senara (2D/Arabic) 5:00pm Rampage (2D/Action) 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Ayla: The Daughter of War (2D/Drama) 7:00pm Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 7:00pm Submergence (2D/Thriller) 9:30pmVikada Kumaran (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pm

Vikada Kumaran (2D/Malayalam) 5:15, 8:45, 10:45, 11:30pm October (Hindi) 6:00pm Krishna Arjuna Yudham (Telugu) 6:00pm Sudani From Nigeria (Malayalam) 8:45pm Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 6:00, 8:00, 8:45 & 11:30pmMercury (Tamil) 11:00pm

Sudani From Nigeria (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am & 3:45pm Stolen Princess (2D/Animation) 11:15am & 4:00pm Mercury (Tamil) 11:00am & 6:45pm October (Hindi) 1:00 & 8:45pm Vikada Kumaran (2D/Malayalam) 1:15 & 8:45pm Krishna Arjuna Yudham (Telugu) 1:15 & 9:00pm Rampage (2D/Action) 6:15 & 11:30pm Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 6:00 & 11:30pm Subedar Joginder Singh 4:00 & 11:45pm

Stolen Princess (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pm October (Hindi) 10:30am, 1:20 & 9:10pm Rampage (2D/Action) 10:30am, 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30 & 11:30pmKrishna Arjuna Yudham (Telugu) 8:30 & 11:20pm

Kuttanadan Marpappa (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 1:20 & 4:20pm A Quiet Place (Thriller) 7:10pm & 12:00midnight

Rampage is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton, loosely based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman & Jake Lacy.

FLIK MirqabA Quiet Place 6:35, 9:35, 11:00pm & 12:30amAyla: The Daughter of War 6:45, 8:30, 10:00 & 11:35pm Marpappa 12:30, 6:20pm & 12:10am Peter Rabbit 10:30am, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:35, 4:30, 5:35, 7:35pm Rampage 10:20, 11:20am, 12:35, 1:35, 2:50, 3:50, 5:05, 6:05, 7:20, 8:20, 9:35, 10:35, 11:30pm & 12:00midnight Ready One Player 1:55, 3:40 & 8:30pm Stolen Princess 11:20am, 12:10, 1:45, 4:40, 6:30pm Submergence 11:35am, 5:00 & 7:30pm Tomb Raider 11:25am, 2:20, 9:15 & 11:35pm Vikadakumaran 3:25 & 9:15pm

Rampage