QNB shares advance on strong earnings

Qatar National Bank rose after reporting strong third-quarter earnings yesterday, while UAE bourses posted modest gains to close the week.

Hadeel al Sayegh Qatar National Bank (QNB) rose after reporting strong third-quarter earnings yesterday, while UAE bourses posted modest gains to close the week. QNB, Qatar's largest lender with a market capitalisation of nearly 60 billion rials, reported a net profit of 1.45bn rials, up 36.9 per cent from the same period last year. QNB advanced 1.5 per cent to 155.71 rials on the Qatar exchange yesterday.

The financial services company Credit Suisse said it would maintain an "outperform" rating on QNB and raised its 12-month price target to 182 rials. "QNB's asset quality remains the best in class, with the [non-performing-loan] ratio holding steady," said Mohammed Hawa, an analyst at Credit Suisse. "Although valuation is not relatively attractive versus local peers, it is still reasonable when compared with any blue chip in the region, and at a discount to Saudi and Kuwaiti peers."

Qatar's index gained 0.2 per cent to close at 7,765.45. The Dubai Financial Market General Index advanced 1 per cent to 1,722.55. Emaar Properties was the most heavily traded share in Dubai, closing 1 per cent higher at Dh3.83. Aramex rose 1.3 per cent to Dh2.28. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 2,685.30. Aldar Properties gained 0.4 per cent to close at Dh2.48.

Kuwait's measure advanced 0.5 per cent to 6,995, Bahrain's rose 0.4 per cent to 1,458.46and Oman's was unchanged at 6,506.22. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was closed yesterday.