BUSINESS | 04BUSINESS | 02

GP Global appoints

Max as lead for

UK bunkering

business

Powell says virus

poses lasting

harm, more may

need to be done

THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020

BUSINESS

Qatar, the second highest-ranking country in the Middle East and North Africa region after Morocco, has made significant progress in the energy transition advancing a full 11 points in ranking.

President of Portugal visits car factory

Qatar encourages digital transformation in commercial transactions

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar is encouraging the use of digital transformation in commercial transactions, speakers at the “Digital Trans-formation in the light of Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Solutions” webinar have said.

In a video conference seminar held recently by the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA), legal experts said that there are many legislators sup-porting the use of digital appli-cations and modern tech-nology in civil and commercial trials.

The seminar, which was held in cooperation with Qatar University, reviewed many challenges facing digital trans-formation in the time of the coronavirus outbreak. The event was seen by more than 120 followers.

Addressing the webinar, QICCA Board Member Dr Sheikh Thani bin Ali Al Thani said that Qatar has adopted a policy of digital transformation in many vital areas, especially by forming the e-government’s steering committee and imple-menting its policies.

He noted that the digital transformation has become an indispensable necessity for the coming years, affirming that it at the same time poses many legal challenges that need to be solved through innovative leg-islative solutions to keep pace with the technical revolution in information technology.

On his part, Dr Tarek Gomaa Rashid reviewed chal-lenges related to the electronic writing and the position of the Qatari legislators, who approved the authenticity of electronic records and elec-tronic signature in the transac-tions and Electronic Commerce Law issued in 2010.

Dr. Nesrine Mahasna out-lined the challenges related to transformation in elec-tronic signature. She recom-mended that electronic sig-nature should be expanded in the provisions of law and stressed the importance of increasing private sector investment in e-signature delivery services.

During the seminar, Dr. Sami Al Rawashda also reviewed the British and Jor-danian experience in the digital transformation, from traditional trials to electronic criminal trials and its associated challenge in terms of verifying the adequacy of the guarantees established for the accused and his lawyer during the trial, which does not prejudice the accused’s basic rights and guarantees.

Underlining the issue of cybercrimes, Dr. Ahmed Samir Hassanein, citing various studies, said that the volume of cybercrime has reached about $1.4 trillion, and that there are about 300,000 cybercrimes committed annually. He also stressed the importance of enhancing international coop-eration in the field of legislation to combat and eliminate cybercrimes.

Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) Board Member, Sheikh Dr. Thani bin Ali Al Thani, speaking during the webinar on “Digital Transformation in the light of COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Solutions” organised by QICCA, recently.

Qatar most ready for global energy transition, says WEF

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar is more ready than ever to embrace energy transition, according to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s ‘Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020’ report, which was published yesterday.

According to the report, Qatar, the second highest-ranking country in the Middle East and North Africa region after Morocco, has made signif-icant progress in the energy transition advancing a full 11 points in ranking.

The Qatari positive per-formance over the past 12 months allowed the country to land itself podium position, landing first glo-bally in the Economic Devel-opment & Growth indicator. The country also witnessed a five-point increase in the Infra-structure & Innovative Business Environment indicator, landing 19th globally. Additionally, the

Energy Access & Security indicator saw a leap of 18 points, while the Human Capital & Consumer Par-ticipation indicator saw the country landing sixth globally.

Qatar leads the global ranking table on the “Economic Devel-opment & Growth” component of energy transition, which is an

evidence of the strong role played by the energy sector in Qatar’s economy. Affordability and security are the key strengths of the Qatari energy sector. The country has been achieving gradual reductions in the energy intensity of the economy and carbon emissions per capita, though the carbon intensity of the energy mix remains high.

Moreover, the enabling envi-ronment for energy transition remains strong, with stable insti-tutional and policy environment. Additionally, recent commodity price volatilities have exposed vul-nerability of fuel exporting coun-tries, calls for economic diversifi-cation to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for long term economic growth, therefore, investing in energy efficiency, and new energy infrastructure such as negative emission technologies and clean hydrogen can help in targeting improvements in sustainability of energy system in Qatar.

Morocco ranked first among the Arab countries, followed by Qatar, the UAE, and Oman.

Globally, the coronavirus pandemic risks cancelling out recent progress in transitioning to clean energy, with unprece-dented falls in demand, price volatility and pressure to quickly mitigate socioeconomic costs placing the near-term trajectory of the transition in doubt.

The report added that energy access and security pol-icies, roadmaps and governance frameworks for energy tran-sition at national, regional, and global levels need to be more robust and resilient against external shocks.

COVID-19 has forced com-panies across industries to adapt to operational disruption, changes in demand and new ways of working, and govern-ments have introduced eco-nomic recovery packages to help mitigate these effects. �P2

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa wearing a face mask visits the Volkswagen Autoeuropa car factory in Palmela, 30 kms south of Lisbon, yesterday. Portugal as a whole has been relatively lightly touched by the coronavirus pandemic with just over a thousand deaths.

Qatar’s Consumer Price Index decreases in AprilTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The CPI–based monthly inflation was down 1.33 percent in April 2020 compared to March 2020. When compared to CPI of April 2019 (y-o-y), a decrease of 3.06 percent has been recorded in the general index (CPI) in April 2020, official data released yesterday showed.

The decline in CPI can be attributed to fall in the prices of some key services sector group, including transport, telecom,

healthcare, and hospitality sectors.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) for the month of April 2020, showed it reached to 96.19 point based on the 2018 prices.

This release of CPI is the fourth issuance using the new base of 2018, calculated from the results of the household income and Expenditure survey 2017-2018.

Looking at the relative importance of the base year

2018, it has been found that, the pattern of households did not change much during the pre-vious five years, and that the relative importance between 2013 and 2018 was almost equal during the period, and no major change was observed on them, the groups of “Food and Bev-erages”, “Housing, Water, Elec-tricity and other Fuel”, “Transport”, and “Recreation and Culture” still considered as the most important to consumer families.

An analysis (on m-o-m

basis) of CPI for April 2020 compared with CPI, March 2020, shows that there are nine main groups, where respective indices in this month have decreased, namely: “Transport” by 4.85 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 2.51 percent, “Health” by 1.24 percent, “Communication” by 1.13 percent, “Food and Beverages” by 0.82 percent, “Miscella-neous Goods and Services” by 0.70 percent, “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.64 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity

and other Fuel” by 0.55 percent, and “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.44 percent. A slightly increase has been recorded in “Recreation and Culture” by 0.02 percent, it could be considered it as in stable level. “Tobacco” and “Education” groups had remained flat at the last month’s price level.

A comparison of the CPI, April 2020 with the CPI April 2019 (annual change), showed a decrease in the general index (CPI), by 3.06 percent. �P2

Amazon calls for US federal law to ban price gougingAFP — WASHINGTON

Amazon called yesterday for a US federal law to prohibit price gouging during a national emergency, saying new standards are needed to prevent profiteering from situ-ations like the COVID-19 pandemic.

The e-commerce leader, which has been hit with accu-sations that it has failed to

prevent unfair pricing on its platform, said any liability for price-gouging should be with “the party who actually sets the price of a product.” Amazon has defended itself against the accusations, saying it has blocked many third-party sellers seeking to profit from the health emergency and has also reported offenders to states with price-gouging statutes.

In a blog post yesterday,

Amazon vice president Brian Huseman said a federal law “would ensure that there are no gaps in protection for con-sumers.” He said price gouging is prohibited during times of crisis in about two-thirds of the United States but that state laws vary — some defining the offense as pricing goods 10 to 25 percent above average, and others simply banning “excessive” prices.

Lebanon launches IMF talks to rescue economyREUTERS — BEIRUT

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday said it has begun remote discussions this week with Lebanon, which is seeking some $10bn of aid to help it out of the worst financial crisis in its history.

Tough negotiations lie ahead for Lebanon, which will be expected to enact economic reforms its sectarian leaders have long avoided if Beirut hopes to secure international aid, analysts say.

With Lebanon in a coro-navirus lockdown, the first round of talks began via videoconferencing.

“The aim is to reach a comprehensive framework that can help Lebanon address the current challenging eco-nomic and social conditions and restore sustainability and growth,” an IMF spokes-woman said of the talks that began on Monday. She said the discussions would con-tinue in coming days.

“We are comfortable with the atmosphere of these initial discussions, and we expect that the upcoming discussions will be equally constructive,” Lebanon’s Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in a statement.

Beirut officially asked for IMF assistance earlier this month, in what Prime Minister Hassan Diab called a “historic moment” for a country facing the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-90 civil war. The talks will be based on a government rescue plan which maps out tens of billions of losses in the financial system.

An international support group including the United States and France said in a statement the decision to request an IMF program was “a first step in the right direction”.

02 THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020BUSINESS

As a pioneer of Islamic Banking and an active partner providing continuous support to community activities, QIB places social responsibility at the very top of its priorities.

Wuhan returns to business

Qatar Islamic Bank supports Qatar Charity’s food basket projectTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, focused on benefiting the society, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) is sponsoring Qatar Char-ity’s project to distribute food baskets to families and workers with limited incomes during these difficult times.

Mashaal Abdulaziz Al Derham, Assistant General Manager for Corporate Commu-nications & Quality Assurance at QIB, commented: “Ramadan is the month of giving, generosity, solidarity, and tolerance. We are extremely pleased that our part-nership with Qatar Charity helps families and workers with limited incomes in our society receive food baskets, based on the government’s health instruc-tions, amid the current COVID-19 pandemic.” Mohamed Rashid Al Kaabi, Assistant CEO for Com-munication and Resource Devel-opment Sector at Qatar Charity thanked Qatar Islamic Bank for its support towards charitable programs and projects, which reflects their keenness to provide help within the framework of their social responsibility and humanitarian work. He said: “Collaboration between all sectors in the country is very important, especially during Ramadan and this global

pandemic (COVID-19). Qatar Charity, with support, can reach the greatest number of people in need and help them during the Holy Month of Ramadan.” Sup-porting low-income members of the society during the blessed month of Ramadan is part of QIB’s CSR program, reflecting the Bank’s adherence to Islamic values and Qatari traditions con-cerning social solidarity and cohesion. The Bank supports such programs every year as an embodiment of its commitment towards the community.

As a pioneer of Islamic Banking and an active partner providing continuous support to community activities, QIB places social responsibility at the very top of its priorities. This is reflected in substantial con-tributions for supporting human, health, educational, and sports activities as part of QIB’s social responsibility programs.

Vodafone Qatar’s GigaNet fibre will power the country’s digital futureTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

COVID-19 has sent a clear message to the global telecom-munications sector: a resilient internet with sufficient band-width to meet an explosion of data needs, is a must.

Qatar is among the coun-tries whose wireless and fixed networks are holding up well against massive spikes in demand and allowing the use of emerging technologies for remote work and study.

Being a digitally advanced nation, data usage and the proportion of “high band-width” being used have been rising long before the pan-demic outbreak, and Qatar has had the foresight to make full-fibre broadband a major pri-ority. Distinguished by its near unlimited bandwidth capacity, enhanced speeds and compat-ibility with other technologies, including 5G requirements, fibre has the ability to grow and adapt to our future com-munication needs.

To date, Vodafone Qatar has made significant progress in providing fibre connectivity to residents and businesses in The Pearl, Lusail City, Msheireb Downtown Doha, Education City, West Bay, Wukair, Industrial area, Al Sadd and Al Waab among other areas, and roll-out is expanding.

The latest generation fibre capabilities - GigaNet fibre - would be hugely advantageous to residents relying heavily on

connectivity for remote work and study, and also enter-tainment while stay-at-home orders are in place. Premium f i x e d s e r v i c e s f r o m ‘GigaHome’, Vodafone’s robust broadband solution, can boost the quality of data-intensive digital choices like video con-ferencing, streaming and gaming, and virtual learning.

New solutions from the fibre market such as “triple play services” combining voice, high-speed internet and mul-timedia over IP, enable access to HDTV, premium content and video on demand in a more cost-effective manner.

For businesses managing their digital demands, GigaNet fibre powers solutions that can help them navigate current operational challenges – from where their remote teams work to how they can deliver services - and still advance

innovation. Voice, video and data are

indispensable day-to-day tools now and as more busi-nesses migrate to cloud-based solutions for remote opera-tions, fibre broadband speeds offer the scalability and reli-ability they need to leverage those solutions to increase productivity and improve competency in the markets. The growing SME and small-office home-office (SOHO) sector can count on value-added services and tools offered by Vodafone Qatar as part of their broadband plans to enhance their online presence.

Other sectors, including education, healthcare, retail and banking, are increasingly dependent on real-time high-bandwidth applications to deliver services in-home to consumers, which demand the

speeds and reliability of a fibre network.

The long-term benefits of GigaNet fibre deployment for Qatar’s economy and society are limitless. Fibre roll-out has given thousands of workers in Barwa Labour City access to Vodafone’s fixed services to provide for the digital needs of the labour worker community.

This is only the start of how the reliability and per-formance of Vodafone’s full-fibre infrastructure can raise the country’s digital capabil-ities under the Qatar National Vision 2030. Beyond just being a superior technology, fibre is important as a backbone infrastructure for 5G, with opportunities such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data applications and other aspects of future smart cities.

As Vodafone Qatar contin-uously innovates with unique services to suit different cus-tomer’s needs, both residential and business consumers now have more choice to access these tailored services and keep their number, with fixed number portability (FNP).

While taking every pre-caution to ensure the health and safety of their engineering teams and that of the com-munity, Vodafone Qatar is continuing to roll out its high-speed fibre network, the crucial infrastructure to keep the country at the forefront of digital connectivity.

Cars are seen along a highway in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province as the city slowly returns to business, yesterday. China has largely brought the virus under control, but the emergence of new cases in Wuhan in recent days, after weeks without fresh infections, has prompted a campaign to test all 11 million residents in the city where COVID-19 first emerged late last year.

Investcorp whitepaper outlines potential benefits of GP minority stake investingTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Investcorp, a leading global provider and manager of alter-native investment products, yesterda released a new white paper, “The Case for Minority Equity Investing in Mid-Sized Private Capital GPs,” analysing the potential benefits and growth opportunities of “GP Staking” - the process of acquiring a minority interest in the management companies and general partnerships (GPs) of alternative asset managers.

Over the last several years, increased allocations and demand from global investors to access private asset classes has driven the emergence of the GP Staking industry. Authored by Anthony Manis-calco, Managing Partner and Head of Strategic Capital Group (“ISCG”) at Investcorp, the paper outlines expectations for GP Staking, anticipating that

there will be a continued rise in stake sales as the strategy remains early in its lifecycle and the belief that current market conditions will increase demand for more permanent forms of additional capital from GPs, especially amongst mid-sized managers.

The paper analyses the

potential benefits of GP Staking for GPs and LPs and why the structuring, rationale and part-nership between the GP and minority investor are critical to any success.

Anthony Maniscalco said, “GP Staking can provide numerous benefits for all parties involved. For GPs, a

stake sale can be an effective way to raise growth capital while also providing strategic benefits to support the firm’s longevity through access to greater scale and resources, optimizing ownership struc-tures and/or having an engaged and experienced minority partner to support its broader business objectives.”

Timothy Mattar, Global Head of Distribution and Investor Relationship Man-agement at Investcorp said :"For LPs, these stake sales provide the opportunity to access the long-term secular growth of alternatives with greater exposure to the GP and its’ overall cash flow gener-ation compared to investing as a LP in a fund. However, the real potential value creation of GP Staking occurs post-trans-action through the collabo-ration between the GP and its minority owner to seek to grow

the business to better meet and hopefully exceed the evolving needs of its clients.”

The white paper chronicles the evolution of the GP Staking asset class with a majority of activities to-date occurring among larger institutions. The average AUM of a GP seller from 2018-2019 was more than $10bn and ISCG believes there is growing demand for GP minority investing in the mid-sized segment of the market, which the white paper iden-tified as a potential $90bn market.

Anthony Maniscalco added: “We believe that investing in mid-sized firms, which is aligned with Investcorp’s focus on the middle-market for nearly 40 years, provides the most attractive opportunities for GP Staking.

These firms are ideally positioned in their growth t r a j e c t o r i e s a n d

can materially benefit from a supportive and engaged minority partner. Further, transactions with mid-sized GPs are also done on a more direct basis, thereby lending itself to more creative and aligned transaction structures with the potential of pro-tecting downside and maxi-mizing value creation.”

Launched in 2019, Invest-corp’s Strategic Capital Group seeks to acquire minority equity investments in mid-sized alternative asset man-agers, with a primary focus on GPs that derive a significant portion of their revenue from the sponsorship and man-agement of closed-end funds. Utilizing a disciplined investment process, ISCG seeks to identify and partner with businesses that it believes to be well-established, with suc-cessful track records and that are poised for growth.

Anthony Maniscalco, Managing Partner and Head of Strategic Capital Group (“ISCG”) at Investcorp

Timothy Mattar, Global Head of Distribution and Investor Relationship Management at Investcorp

GP Global appoints Max as lead for UK bunkering business

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

GP Global, a leading global diversified conglomerate today announced the strategic appointment of Max Carn-egie-Jones (pictured) as Lead for its bunkering business in the UK, thus further strength-ening its global bunkering operations and continuing its growth trajectory across the world.

Max Carnegie-Jones is a seasoned trader with over 29 years of experience; and he joins GP Global from World Fuel Services Europe Ltd., where he held the position of Marine Commercial Manager.

Bringing with him a breadth of experience, Max Carnegie-Jones will be joining

a global network of bunker trading offices across London, Geneva, Dubai, Mumbai, Sin-gapore, and Houston in The Americas, complemented by representatives in Lagos, Dar el Salaam, Nairobi, Delhi and Shanghai.

Reporting to Chris Todd, head of Bunkers West of Suez and based out of London, his new role at GP Global will see him lead the UK trading teams in both London & Hull. With growth plans on the horizon for both offices, Max’s expe-rience and knowledge will be invaluable in helping the company achieve its goals in these key areas.

“Recent world events and a challenging global economic climate have shed light on how important it is to have the right team in place. With that, we are pleased to announce our latest appointment of Max Carnegie-Jones."

" He is a strong addition to our global network of team leaders whom will further strengthen our capabilities. Capitalising on growth oppor-tunities remains our primary focus while we continue working towards safeguarding our international network of teams across the globe,” said Prerit Goel, Jt. Managing Director at GP Global.

Qatar most ready for global energy transition, says WEF

FROM BUSINESS PAGE 1If implemented with long-

term strategies in mind, they could also accelerate the tran-sition to clean energy, by helping countries scale their efforts towards sustainable and inclusive energy systems.

Roberto Bocca, Head of Energy and Materials at the World Economic Forum, said: “The coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to con-sider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets and global collaboration to support a recovery that accelerates the energy transition once the acute crisis subsides.

This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way.”

The report draws on insights from Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2020, which benchmarks 115 economies on the current performance of their energy systems across economic devel-opment and growth, environ-mental sustainability, and energy security and access indicators; and their readiness for transition to secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive energy systems.

FROM BUSINESS PAGE 1

This (y-o-y) price decrease is primarily due to the decline in prices seen in six groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 13.71 percent, “Clothing and Footwear” by 6.90 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 4.18 percent, “Communication” by 3.26 percent, “Transport” by

3.09 percent, “ “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.75 percent. An increase has been shown in price levels in five groups namely: “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.49 percent, followed by “Health” by 1.30 percent, “Food and Bev-erages” by 1.21 percent, “Edu-cation” by 1.18 percent, and “Restaurants and Hotels” by

0.60 percent. No changes recorded in “Tobacco” group.

The CPI of April, 2020 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stood at 96.85 points showing a decrease of 1.54 percent when compared to the index of March 2020, and a decrease of 2.67 percent when compared to the CPI of April 2019.

Qatar’s Consumer Price Index decreases in April

Brent crude was trading close to $30 a barrel after the report’s release and is up from a 21-year low below $16 reached last month.

03THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020 BUSINESS

Opec slashes global oil demand forecastagain, sees biggest decline this quarterREUTERS - LONDON

Opec slashed its forecast yes-terday for global oil demand this year and predicted this quarter would see the steepest decline even as some countries ease lockdown measures designed to stem the corona-virus outbreak.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries now expects global demand to contract by 9.07 million barrels per day (bpd), or 9.1 percent, in 2020, it said in a monthly report. Last month, Opec expected a contraction of 6.85 million bpd.

Oil prices have collapsed as government lockdowns cur-tailed travel and economic activity, tipping countries into recession. While some places in Europe and Asia have eased

restrictions, concern of new virus outbreaks has kept a lid on oil prices.

To tackle the drop in demand, Opec and its allies agreed to a record supply cut that started on May 1, while the United States and other nations said they would pump less.

Opec said these curbs were already helping.

“The speedy supply adjust-ments in addressing the current acute imbalance in the global

oil market have already started showing positive response, with rebalancing expected to pick up faster in the coming quarters,” Opec said in the report.

Brent crude was trading close to $30 a barrel after the report’s release and is up from a 21-year low below $16 reached last month.

Opec expects this quarter to see the biggest drop in demand and lowered its demand forecast for the second quarter by 5.4 million bpd. Downside risks remain for con-sumption in the United States, Europe and South Korea, Opec said.

“The currently imposed full or partial lockdowns create substantial further downside risks for US oil demand growth this year,” Opec said.

“Further downside risks

remain and relate to the timing of lifting extensive lockdowns, as well as to how specific economic sectors, i.e. aviation and services, will look in the aftermath,” it said of Europe.

The supply pact agreed last month involves Opec , Russia and other allies, a group known as Opec+, cutting output by 9.7 million bpd in May and June.

In its report, Opec said its oil output in April rose, as some countries had ramped up pro-duction following the collapse on March 6 of a previous Opec + supply deal.

Opec boosted supply in April by 1.8 million bpd to 30.41 million bpd, according to sec-ondary sources cited in the Opec report, due to extra barrels from Saudi Arabia, the

United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia told Opec it pumped at a record 12 million bpd, even more than the sec-ondary sources estimated.

Opec expects production outside the group to decline by 3.5 million bpd in 2020, a sharp reduction from the 1.5 million bpd drop expected last month, led by the United States, Russia and Canada.

Countries outside Opec+ have announced 3.6 million bpd of production cuts due to lack of demand, low prices, excess supply and limited storage space, Opec said.

Even so, Opecestimated the demand for its crude this year at 24.26 million bpd, down 240,000 bpd from last month, suggesting it needs to cut over 6 million bpd from April’s rate to avoid a surplus.

European carriers parking their planes

neatly on flat farmlands of eastern Spain

REUTERS - SPAIN

Dozens of passenger jetliners belonging to European carriers stand idled in neat lines in a giant aeroplane parking lot amid the flat farmlands of eastern Spain.

TARMAC Aerosave spe-cialises in the storage and maintenance of aircraft, and business at its Teruel Airport facility has boomed since coro-navirus lockdowns globally forced airlines across Europe to ground fleets for several weeks. No end is in sight for many.

Planes showing the markings of commercial air-lines including British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France stand parked, buffeted by the spring wind blowing across the plain.

“Teruel’s climate is dry - semi-desert with more than

250 days of sun per year,” said airport manager Alejandro Ibrahim.

“Also there is very little air traffic congestion which makes it the ideal place for plane pres-ervation and maintenance.”

The airport currently hosts 95 wide-body aircraft, including eight of the world’s largest passenger airliners - the Airbus A380. The number of planes arriving per week to be parked in the airport has doubled since the start of the global pandemic.

Two Air France Airbus A380s arrived on April 25, the first ever to be hosted at the airport. Eight of this model are now parked on the lot.

The airport, owned by the local government, has not increased its rates since the beginning of the crisis, Ibrahim said, speaking about landing

and parking taxes. TARMAC Aerosave said it had not increased its rates for aircraft storage and maintenance since the start of the pandemic.

Built on the site of an aer-odrome used during Spain’s 1936-1939 Civil War, it has a view of distant mountains.

Global aviation is facing a battle to survive, with most flights grounded since March due to travel restrictions to contain the pandemic. Airlines across Europe, including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, have sought state rescues.

The sudden stop to air travel has led to airlines strug-gling to find space to store their planes. In Europe, some airlines have grounded their entire fleets and are storing their air-craft by parking them in air-ports, including on now-unused runways.

Dozens of passenger jetliners belonging to European carriers stand idled in neat lines in a giant aeroplane parking lot in Spain.

Uber to sell $750m of bonds after Grubhub deal reportBLOOMBERG

Uber Technologies Inc is selling new debt, just a day after a report said it has made an offer to acquire food delivery company Grubhub Inc.

The ride-hailing service is issuing $750m of senior notes due 2025, which may be used for acquisitions among other general corporate purposes, according to a statement issued yesterday. It’s in early pricing discussions with investors for a yield of around 7.5 percent to 7.75 percent, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named dis-c u s s i n g a p r i v a t e transaction.

A deal with Grubhub would combine two of the largest food-delivery apps in the US as the coronavirus drives a surge in demand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. While neither

company confirmed, they both acknowledged they’re always looking for opportu-nities to provide value to their businesses.

Uber said last week that it will close its food delivery service, Uber Eats, in markets where it isn’t popular. In the first quarter, bookings from ride-hailing customers declined for the first time ever due to travel shutdowns, but Uber said that part of its business is now beginning to recover.

S&P Global Ratings grades Uber’s new unsecured notes as CCC+, or seven levels below investment grade. Moody’s Investors Service rates them B3, one step higher than S&P.

Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc are managing the bond sale, according to a sep-arate person with knowledge of the matter.

Here’s a banking practice Citigroup hopes doesn’t return to normal

BLOOMBERG

For Citigroup Inc, there’s at least one part of finance it hopes doesn’t go back to normal: opening accounts.

With corporations around the world forced to shutter offices to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Cit-igroup has seen those clients flock to its new technology offerings. The firm said yes-terday that it had opened more than 1,000 corporate accounts digitally during the widespread lockdowns, a 300 percent increase from a year earlier.

“As physical interaction has become an issue and people are generally working from their respective resi-dences, this particular capa-bility became very handy,” Naveed Sultan (pictured),

global head of the bank’s treasury and trade solutions business, said in an interview. “We’ve been at this for quite some time.”

The firm set out in recent years to reduce the time it takes corporations to open accounts from several weeks to two days. That has helped as the bank has seen an influx of new clients and even existing customers seeking to open accounts in new countries or regions around the world as they shift supply chains in response to the pandemic.

Citigroup has long leaned on its treasury division, which contributed 14 percent of firmwide revenue last year. Rivals have recently sought to mimic its success, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc seeking to gain a greater foothold in the business.

Sultan said clients’ rapid adoption of digital tools means Citigroup employees will have more flexibility, too. His unit’s future could include a combination of working from home and from the office.

“At Citi, we have done very well adjusting to this new environment,” Sultan said. “We did not miss a beat.”

Carlyle, Singapore’s sovereign-wealth

fund GIC sued over AmEx stock buyBLOOMBERG

Carlyle Group Inc and Sin-gapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte are using fake excuses to renege on buying a 20 percent stake in American Express Global Business Travel (AmEx GBT), according to a lawsuit unsealed in the US unit of Certares Management LLC claims Carlyle’s losses from the coronavirus left it with a whopping case of buyer’s remorse and prompted its attempt to scrap the stock pur-chase, which had valued the travel entity at $5bn when it was announced in 2019. Certares leads a group of investors in the deal, including some sovereign wealth funds and several Carlyle entities.”The Carlyle Group’s losses do not provide defendants with a basis to withdraw from the transaction,” Juweel Investors Ltd., a subsidiary of New York-based Certares, said in the lawsuit unsealed Monday in Del-aware Chancery Court. The investment fund “cobbled

together a series of pretextual and transparently false excuses to justify their refusal to close” the deal, Juweel said. The dispute is among a half-dozen busted-deal cases tied to COVID-19 that found their way to Delaware’s business court. The state is the corporate home to more than half of US public companies and more than 60 percent of Fortune 500 firms. Chancery court judges hear cases without juries and can’t award punitive damages.

In its complaint, Juweel said Carlyle and GIC balked after the price of the deal rose when AmEx GBT sought to use a portion of the proceeds to cover operating losses tied to the pan-demic. Juweel said the purchase agreement didn’t bar it from using the proceeds to fund its operations. The Certares unit also said it was prepared to close the deal under the agreed terms, according to court filings.

“The sellers violated several terms of the purchase agreement and as a result we are seeking a judicial confirmation that we

have no obligation to close the transaction,” Brittany Berliner, a spokeswoman for Carlyle, said in an emailed statement.

Jason Leow, a spokesman for GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, didn’t respond to an email requesting comment. Other members of the investment group include funds managed by BlackRock, and Teacher Retirement System of Texas, according to a press release issued when the deal was announced.

The pandemic has roiled the travel industry, with companies suffering huge revenue drops, prompting worker layoffs. AmEx GBT offers travel services pri-marily to businesses that book airfare and hotel rooms.The travel business was growing before COVID-19, generating $5.7 trillion in annual revenue and creating 319 million jobs. Com-panies spent more than $305bn on travel in 2018, a 4.5 percent gain from the year earlier, according to Bloomberg Intelli-gence, citing data from the Global Business Travel Association.

Carlyle and GIC say the eco-nomic body blows the US economy suffered from the virus amount to a “material adverse effect” under the stock-purchase agreement that allows them to scuttle the deal, Juweel said in the complaint. The funds have coun-tersued to get a judge to approve their decision to pull out. But the Certares unit said the stock-pur-chase agreement contains pro-visions that rule out a material adverse effect based on “any dis-ruption” to the US “financial, banking or securities markets,” according to the lawsuit.

Juweel also said in the com-plaint that the agreement specif-ically bars Carlyle from arguing changes to “general business or economic conditions” provide a legitimate basis for calling off the deal.

Juweel officials have asked Chancery Judge Joseph Slights III to put the lawsuit on a fast track for trial because of worries about missing a June financing deadline. The judge is scheduled to hear Juweel’s request at a today's hearing.

German firms plan charter flight to send staff back to ChinaAFP - BEIJING

German firms plan to charter a flight to China this month, business leaders said yesterday, as Beijing appears ready to further ease a ban on foreigners imposed over coronavirus fears.

The idea is to eventually extend a similar plan to other European countries, Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber in China, said.

Talks are under way for “a fast-track procedure” allowing employees of German com-panies to re-enter China on the special flight, said Jens Hilde-brandt, executive director for the German Chamber of Com-merce in North China.

The aim is to help com-panies bring back “urgently required personnel”, with the German embassy and German chamber working with Chinese authorities to make it happen as soon as May 25.

“We hope that this can serve as a blueprint to get more foreign employees back to China,” Hildebrandt told AFP, adding that this process gen-erally applies to staff who hold valid residence permits.

There may be more charter flights later, if the first proves to be successful, he said.

In late March, China dras-tically cut flight routes to and from the country, and imposed a ban on most foreigners -- even those with valid residence visas.

The move underlined its growing concern over imported cases of the coronavirus, as well as fears of a second wave of infections as the virus epicentre shifted beyond China where the deadly pathogen was first reported.

Wuttke told AFP that Chinese officials approached the German embassy after he wrote to Chinese foreign min-ister Wang Yi requesting assistance to ease entry restric-tions on foreigners.

He said German flag-carrier Lufthansa is expected to handle the first flight and as the Swiss and Austrian airlines belong to the Lufthansa group, a similar flight model would be easy to replicate for both countries.

A first charter flight with 200 seats could leave Frankfurt for Shanghai Pudong airport on May 25, with passengers subject to mandatory COVID-19 tests before departure.

But a list of those boarding the aircraft will have to be approved by Chinese author-ities, and travellers will need to have their visas issued or reinstated.

04 THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020BUSINESS

Powell says virus poses lasting harm, more may need to be doneBLOOMBERG

The US economy faces unprecedented downside risks that could do lasting damage to households and businesses if fiscal and monetary policy makers don’t rise to the chal-lenge, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (pictured) said.

“The recovery may take some time to gather momentum, and the passage of time can turn liquidity problems into solvency problems,” Powell said yes-terday in remarks prepared for a virtual event hosted by the Peterson Institute for Interna-tional Economics in Washington.

“Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if it helps avoid long-term eco-nomic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery.”

Powell and his colleagues on the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee have taken dramatic measures to shelter the US economy during the coronavirus pandemic. They have cut their benchmark interest rate to nearly zero, engaged in open-ended bond buying and begun rolling out

emergency lending pro-grammes as US unem-ployment has soared to levels not seen since the 1930s Great Depression.

The Fed chair in his speech outlined the worrying scenario posed by mass bankruptcies and unemployment while asserting that policy makers may have to do more to prevent it from coming to pass. He said the Fed would publish a survey Thursday (today) showing almost 40 percent of Americans in households making less than $40,000 a year had lost a job in March.

“Long stretches of unem-ployment can damage or end workers’ careers as their skills lose value and professional networks dry up, and leave families in greater debt,” Powell said. “The loss of thou-sands of small- and medium-sized businesses across the country would destroy the life’s work and family legacy of many business and com-munity leaders and limit the strength of the recovery when it comes.”

Congressional lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s administration have passed almost $3 trillion in economic relief measures, including $454bn to serve as a backstop for the central bank’s emergency

programmes. Democrats and Republicans are currently talking about another round of aid, including measures to shore up state and local gov-ernments whose tax revenues have been decimated by stay-at-home orders that have shut-tered entire sectors of the economy.

“While the economic response has been both timely and appropriately large, it may not be the final chapter, given that the path ahead is both highly uncertain and subject to significant downside risks,” Powell said.

In an unprecedented step, the Fed this week also began buying exchange-traded funds invested in corporate debt to support liquidity in the market where large companies borrow.

Powell added that the central bank would “continue to use our tools to their fullest until the crisis has passed and the economic recovery is well under way,” but cautioned that it could only make loans and not spend money.

“When this crisis is behind us, we will put these emer-gency tools away,” he said.

Mexico sets partial, gradual business reopening for May 18AP - MEXICO CITY

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said yes-terday the country is moving to “the new normality” after 51 days of lockdown due to the corona-virus pandemic.

Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez said the reopening would be “gradual, orderly and cautious”, and that by May 18, industries like construction, mining, and car and truck man-ufacturing would be allowed to resume.

Mexico’s top advisory body on the coronavirus pandemic, the General Health Council, said on Tuesday it had decided to classify those industries as “essential activities” that are allowed to continue working during a lockdown aimed at fighting the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Mexico has been under pressure from US officials to reopen auto plants because without them, integrated supply chains would make it hard for plants in the US and Canada to reopen.

Marquez said that about one-tenth of Mexico’s townships

that have no recorded cases of coronavirus would be allowed to resume business and school activities, but would be sur-rounded by health checkpoints. There are about 269 such “townships of hope,” that neither have active cases in their own territory nor in adjoining townships. They are largely located in rural areas in north-central and southeastern Mexico.

A new, four-colour coding system will be in place by June 1 to tell people and businesses what activities are allowed.

Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer said: “We are in the critical part of the pandemic, but we are doing well.” Education Secretary Esteban Moctezuma said: “We are not going to return to classes until it is safe.”

Mexico currently has over 38,000 confirmed coronavirus cases - though officials have acknowledged the real figure is many times higher - and almost 4,000 deaths

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

The recovery may take some time to gather momentum, and the passage of time can turn liquidity problems into solvency problems,” Powell said.

Australia reopens some businessesPassengers board a train in the central business district of Sydney, yesterday. Australia’s federal, state and territory governments are gradually easing COVID-19 restrictions around public gatherings and businesses.

Delivery robot operators are also working from homeBLOOMBERG

Peter Daniels is one of the mil-lions of Americans working from home because of the coro-navirus. Daniels, 29, stopped commuting to his job at delivery startup Postmates in mid-March. Now, instead of making a half-hour trip from his apartment in San Francisco’s Sunset District to the company’s office downtown, he moves a few feet from his bed to his desk. From there, five days a week, Daniels watches delivery robots as they roll along side-walks 350 miles away in Los Angeles. The bots drive them-selves from their dispatch center to the restaurants and shop-pickup points, then to customers’ homes. If one gets stuck, it pings Daniels or one of his fellow fleet supervisors for help.

“The most common thing is construction or just a torn-up sidewalk,” said Daniels in a phone interview. “We have to figure out how to get around that.” From his widescreen

desktop monitor, he sees what a robot sees and guides it around obstacles, using his key-board. The setup and the software are made by Phantom Auto, a Mountain View, Cali-fornia, startup that provides remote driving technology for just about anything with wheels and a wireless Internet con-nect ion , f rom cars , trucks and forklifts to yard

trucks and delivery robots. Postmates began devel-

oping autonomous delivery robots, a project known inter-nally as Postmates X, in 2017. It partnered with Phantom Auto last summer, a few months before its fleet of four-wheeled, black-and-yellow robots began making short-range deliveries in Los Angeles. Supervisors have been on

hand for every trip, as is required by California state law. The Serve bots, as Post-mates calls them, also operate in a smaller area in San Fran-cisco. Over a few days in mid-March, Daniels and his fellow fleet operators all switched to working from home instead of commuting to offices in those cities.

The transition was fairly seamless, said Ali Kashani, vice-president of Postmates X. “We put workstations in homes. We upgraded the home Internet. We developed new standard operating procedures,” he said. “We had to add some features to monitor connectivity better so that if, at any given time, (the operators’) connection isn’t good enough, we can notify them and they can transfer the robot to someone else.”

Postmates also adjusted how the robots load and unload goods, eliminating the need for human contact. In the past, vendors would key a code on a touchscreen on the robot to open the lid and put a package

inside. Customers would do the same to fetch a package. Now, a fleet supervisor operates the lid remotely at both ends. “We wanted to move really quickly so we didn’t make it too com-plicated,” said Kashani. The pandemic, he added, has changed the way customers view its robots. In the past, they were mere novelties. “Now they see it, and they immediately think ‘social distancing,” he said.

“We’ve seen a lot of repeat customers, people who specif-ically request the robot,” said Daniels. Some restaurants, he said, have been throwing in a roll of toilet paper with each order.

While robots account for only a small slice of Post-mates’ deliveries in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the pan-demic, said Kashani, has accel-erated growth: “During Covid, we’ve actually done more deliv-eries and put more robots out than we anticipated.” Since the outbreak began, he said, the robots have served thousands of households in Los Angeles.

A staff keeps a parcel in a delivery robot of startup Postmates. These bots drive themselves from their dispatch center to the restaurants and shop-pickup points, then to customers’ homes.

Smiths Medical acquires Access ScientificAFP - MINNEAPOLIS

Smiths Medical, a leading global medical device manufacturer, announced yesterday the acquisition of the business of Access Scientific, LLC, a pri-vately-held company based in San Diego, CA. Access Scientific is a broad-spectrum vascular access and infection prevention company that manufactures the POW-ERWAND? midline and extended dwell catheters.

The range of POWERWAND? products extends Smiths Med-ical’s vascular access product portfolio and enables greater clinician choice to treat patients.

The POWERWAND? range of products are clinically dif-ferentiated vascular access solutions, supported by nine peer-reviewed papers and nine scientific posters. Bloodstream infections are a known risk associated with vascular access catheters. Conclusions from

recent clinical studies show no occurrence of bloodstream infections associated with use of the products. Combined, these studies have a total of 35,000 catheter days without bacterial infections. “Smiths Medical’s acquisition of Access Scientific enhances our com-mitment to patient care and outcomes, driving category leadership in our existing vas-cular access portfolio,” said JehanZeb Noor, their patients.”

Zimbabwe’s solar-purchase plan may save much-needed dollarsBLOOMBERG

Zimbabwe’s state power company, Zesa Holdings, urged private solar-power producers to sell excess supply to the national grid, reducing the need for imports and saving much-needed foreign currency in the cash-strapped country.

Under a so-called net-metering programme, solar pro-ducers could register to transfer excess power to the utility and receive rebates on their electricity accounts, Zesa said in a statement yesterday. “Net metering is ben-eficial to the utility and nation at large through the saving of foreign currency as there will be less power imports,” it said.

Energy Minister Fortune Chasi wasn’t immediately available to comment on the programme.

HSBC sees oil and virus turmoil boosting Middle East dealsBLOOMBERG

A historic crash in oil prices and fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will accelerate asset sales in the Middle East and open up a gap for sovereign wealth funds to m a k e “ o p p o r t u n i s t i c investments”, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.

“Corporates and sovereign entities will need to look at their portfolios more closely during challenging times and see what is core to them,” Nabil Lahham, head of advisory and corporate finance coverage for HSBC in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, said in an interview. “Some of them are also looking at gaps in their portfolio and seeking to do deals to fill those holes.”

The crisis may also trigger further consolidation across the Gulf, which has already seen some large-scale mergers and acquisitions in sectors such as banking and real estate, he said.

Governments across the oil-rich Middle East are looking at ways to shore up their finances that have been battered by a more than 50 percent slump in crude prices this year.

Coupled with strict curfews to contain the coronavirus, most of the region is set for its deepest

financial turmoil in decades. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is in talks with a consortium of investors to sell a minority stake in its $15bn gas pipelines, people familiar with the matter said in April. Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has also hired advisers to review a potential multibn-dollar stake sale in i ts pipeline business, Bloomberg News reported last month.

M&A activity in the Middle East and Africa more than doubled in 2019 from a year earlier, boosted by announced transactions such as the $70bn purchase of a controlling stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp by Aramco. HSBC ranked third on the list of top advisers in the region, behind JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“There is still a steady flow of transactions in the region, driven by the need for corporates and governments to rationalize their portfolios, opportunistic investments by large wealth funds and selective inbound interest from international investors,” said Lahham, who joined the British lender this year after a decade at Perella Weinberg Partners LP.

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds -- which have built up assets of more than

$2 trillion as a cushion for when oil runs out or revenues drop -- will continue to seek opportuni t ies through targeted investments to take advantage of a dip in asset values, he said.

Saudi Arabia’s $320bn sovereign wealth fund is using the crisis as an opportunity to broaden its global portfolio and has already made bold acquisitions in energy and entertainment firms.

“Wealth funds in the region have been around for a while now and have sophisticated teams who can take advantage of shift in valuations and investment patterns globally,” Lahham said.

HSBC advised Tabreed on its acquisition of an 80 percent stake in a Dubai district cooling facility from Emaar Properties PJSC for $675m last month. The bank worked with State Grid Corp of China when it bought a 49 percent stake in Oman’s state-owned power transmission company last year in a deal valuing the business at about $2bn.

Qatari power and water investor Nebras Power QSC was advised by HSBC when it acquired a 49 percent stake in Australia’s Stockyard Hill wind farm, which is set to become the largest wind-power facility in the Southern hemisphere.

REUTERS — HONG KONG

High demand for video games during COVID-19 lockdowns buoyed Tencent Holdings’ first-quarter revenue and profits, with blockbuster games PlayerUnknown’s Battle-grounds Mobile and Honor of Kings helping it beats forecasts.

The Chinese company’s video games business, which generates more than a third of its revenue, saw growth of 31 percent to 37.30 billion yuan ($5.26bn) as people idled away the time in front of screens and used online multiplayer games to virtually hang out with friends.

Its flagship games PlayerUnknown’s Battle-grounds (PUBG) Mobile and Honor of Kings topped mobile games revenue globally in March, analytics firm Sensor Tower said, reinforcing Ten-cent’s status as the world’s largest gaming firm by sales.

In-game spending on things like power-ups, object skins and accessories on PUBG Mobile alone surged to $232m, more than three times what the title generated in March 2019.

However Tencent, a

gaming and social media giant, warned that it expected some of the business boosts it enjoyed during lockdowns to be temporary.

“We expect in-game

consumption activities to largely normalise as people return to work, and we see some headwinds for the online advertising industry,” it said.

Global spending on digital games surged to $10bn in March, the highest monthly total ever, according to Nielsen’s game data arm SuperData.

Tencent’s stock has jumped nearly 14.38 percent this year, against a 15 percent decline in Hong Kong’s broader Hang Seng index. Meanwhile shares in its US-listed rival, which is focused on e-commerce rather than gaming, have dipped by

almost 6 percent over the same period.

Japanese rival Sony’s gaming business has also ben-efited from lockdowns; the division was a bright spot in otherwise bleak annual results, bringing in more money as consumers downloaded its gaming software.

Tencent’s overall revenue jumped 26 percent to 108.07 billion yuan ($15.24bn), while net profit rose 6 percent to 28.90 billion yuan for the three months trough March, with both ahead of the average analyst estimate, Refinitiv data showed.

The company said its group online advertising revenue surged by 32 percent, with gaming and education-related ads on WeChat and its other apps helping it buck a broader advertising downturn as the global economy reels from the pandemic.

Social media advertising revenue grew 47 percent, high-lighting a shift in behaviour as many people were confined to their homes. However its revenue from media ads fell 10 percent due to lower rev-enues from its video and news platforms.

Global spending on digital games surged to $10bn in March, the highest monthly total ever, according to Nielsen’s game data arm SuperData.

05THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020 BUSINESS

China’s Tencent reaps revenue of lockdown gaming boom

World’s biggest wealth fund dumps $3bn in fossil fuelsBLOOMBERG

Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund is doubling down on its climate action by making deeper cuts to its fossil fuel exposure.

The exclusions span some of the world’s biggest coal miners and make use of climate rules for the first time to exit oil-sands firms. Glencore Plc and Anglo American Plc, utility RWE AG and Canadian oil producer Suncor Energy Inc. are among those hit by with-drawals that amount to about $3.3bn based on Bloomberg calculations using the fund’s reported holdings at the end of last year.

The move had been eagerly awaited by environ-mental activists after Norway tightened the fund’s restric-tions on investments in thermal coal last year, closing what critics had

described as a loophole to continue funding polluters.

Oil Stocks Norway’s fund, which owns about 1.5 percent of listed stocks worldwide, was built on the country’s revenue from oil and gas pro-duction. It has sought to take a leading role on responsible investment, with ethical guidelines spanning from a ban on tobacco and some weapons to restrictions tied to human rights and environ-mental issues.

The central bank, which manages the fund, even argued for a full exit from oil stocks in order to reduce Norway’s exposure to oil-price risk. But the proposal was watered down by the government last year, sparing the world’s biggest oil producers.The new coal exclusions come after the government introduced absolute caps on thermal coal.

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,801.70 -1.02 %

QE Total Return Index 16,920.99 -1.02 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index - Price 1,971.39 -0.80 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,516.06 -0.80 %

QE All Share Index 2,729.25 -1.08 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 3,807.57 -0.80 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,449.63 -1.43 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,566.40 -5.28 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,382.21 -0.72 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,061.67 +1.29 %

QE All Share Telecoms 826.57 -1.14 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 7,024.77 -0.39 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

13-05-2020Index 8,801.70

Change -90.74

% -1.02%

YTD% -15.58

Volume 286,225,808

Value (QAR) 426,002,704.25

Trades 9,866

Up 15 | Down 24 | Unchanged 0612-05-2020Index 8,892.44

Change +28.81

% +0.33%

YTD% -14.70

Volume 160,146,261

Value (QAR) 294,245,887.20

Trades 9,690

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR202.8618 grammeSILVER QR1.7958 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low All Ordinaries 4207.354 110.624 2.7 5069.5 3829.4

CAC 40 Index/D 3176.13 -0.06 0 4169.87 2979.87

DAX - Composit/D 531.14 8.71 1.67 667.98 485.74

DJ Indu Average 0 0 0 12876 9936.39

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 675.91 13.3 0.95 1567.23 143.08

Hang Seng Inde/D 19783.67 452.97 2.34 24468.64 18868.11

ISEG Overall/D 2510.71 44.36 1.8 3037.89 2333.35

Karachi 100 In/D 11311.29 276.37 2.5 12768.4 11032.2

Nikkei 225 Index 9038.74 94.26 1.05 10891.6 8227.63

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1370.58 1039.7

Straits Times/D 2821.09 -62.91 -2.18 3280.77 2847

Currency Buying (QAR) Selling (QAR)US$ 3.6305 3.6500

Pound Sterlig 4.4682 4.5313

Swiss Frnac 3.7067 3.7591

Japanese yen 0.03355 0.0342

Australian Dollar 2.2895 2.3346

Canadian Dollar 2.5502 2.6003

Indian Rupee 0.0474 0.0483

Pakistan Rupee 0.0225 0.0231

Philipine Peso 0.0712 0.0726

Bangala Takka 0.0425 0.0433

Sri lanka Rupee 0.0187 0.0191

Nepalese Rupee 0.0297 0.0302

South African Rand 0.1887 0.1925

Euro 3.8966 3.9508