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BUSINESSWednesday 21 February 2018
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EU vows to strike back at US
trade threat
Qatar Chamber hosts Moroccan exporters
QDB plays key role in economic diversificationTHE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar Development Bank (QDB) Chairman H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani has said that QDB was playing a commendable role in the country’s ambitious economic diversification strategy, by providing total support to the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Addressing the bank’s gen-eral assembly meeting, which reviewed the bank’s efforts to achieve a number of important milestones during the year 2017, Sheikh Abdullah, who is also the Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB), noted that the bank has focused on redoubling its efforts to support entrepreneurs through various initiatives and programs that create opportu-nities for local industries despite the many regional and global economic challenges. QDB also adopted unique business models based on innovation, and employs best practices and modern techniques, in addition to continuing to collaborate with its strategic partners to achieve its objectives.
Later, in a statement, QDB
said that the bank’s financing portfolio rose to QR8bn last year. It financed projects contribute to the added value of the local economy, especially those related to the main industrial sectors.
The value of the approved guarantees through Al Dhameen programme amounted to QR303m in 2017, an increase of 17.4 percent. The number of guarantees reached 47 and the number of projects benefiting from the program stood at 300.
QDB helped Qatari exporters to participate in the export trade fairs, with a total of 185, while
the volume of contracts through bilateral meetings reached QR155m.
In 2017, QDB provided sev-eral consulting services to many of the bank’s clients. It carried out 205 market research reports, 117 economic feasibility reports and 417 services to Qatari entre-preneurs and SMEs. The bank also helped through Qatar Busi-ness Incubation Center (QIBC) and Bedaya Center in providing a wide range of services and training workshops in order to develop the skills of the partici-pants to raise awareness about t h e c o n c e p t o f entrepreneurship.
As part of supporting domestic industries, QDB sup-ported in 2017 home-based entrepreneurs through “Made at Home” exhibition, in which 144 exhibitors took part with sales amounting to QR4m.
QDB also launched Entrepre-neurship Awards and Conference for owners of SMEs and Qatari entrepreneurs who have inno-vative ideas. Out of 500 compa-nies that ran for the award, 200 companies qualified to compete in the five categories of the best micro enterprise, the best nas-cent company, the best emerging
company, the best exporting company, and the best self-suf-ficiency supporting company in the local market.
The final qualifications saw 25 companies reach the final stage before picking five of them for the awards in each category.
Due to the regional develop-ments in 2017, QDB has doubled its efforts to encourage SMEs to expand their local procurement business. The bank provided opportunities for local supply to
more than 700 Qatari factories, and qualified more than 1,000 entrepreneurs.
In addition to its initiatives in the industrial field, QDB launched several initiatives, most notably Jahez I and Jahez II. Jahiz I project, which includes 32 fac-tories in the fields of plastics, alu-minum and electronics and has been awarded to Qatari entre-preneurs, started production towards achieving part of local sufficiency.
Jahiz II, meanwhile, helped
in equipping 16 factories in the field of food and beverages.
In order to support national products, QDB organized in 2017 three “Buy Local Products” exhi-bitions and was keen to be the strategic partner of the fifth edi-tion of “Made in Qatar” exhibi-tion. QDB also organized the second edition of the Govern-ment Procurement and Con-tracting Conference and Exhibi-tion in the beginning of 2017, with the event leading to 242 deals worth around QR 700m.
H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank, addressing QDB’s general assembly meeting.
Ahmet Gulec (third left), TIM Board Member and Head of Delegation; Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari (fourth left), Qatar Chamber Vice Chairman; and Fikret Ozer (fourth right), Turkish Ambassador to Qatar with other officials during Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) delegation meet with Qatari counterparts, yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA
Qatar-Turkey trade volume set to touch $5bn MOHAMMAD SHOEB
THE PENINSULA
DOHA: With the fast growing economic cooperation between Qatar and Turkey, the bilateral trade volume between the two nations is expected to jump by manifold over the next few years. The current level of two-way trade exchange stood at $1.5bn, which is expected to surge by more than three times to touch $5bn within two-three years, business leaders from both side noted yesterday.
“Qatari-Turkish relations are witnessing rapid growth, which led the private sector in both countries to seize the opportu-nity and strengthen cooperation and build trade alliances that paved the way for increasing the volume of trade exchange between the two countries”, Muhammed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari, Vice-Chairman of Qatar Chamber told The Peninsula on the sidelines of a meeting with the visiting mem-bers of a Turkish trade delega-tion, yesterday. Al Kuwari added:
“Turkey is one of the most indus-trialised economies in the world exporting nearly $160bn worth of goods to the world. They pro-duce quality products which are exported to all over the world, including Qatar. As we are imple-menting large number of infra-structure and developmental projects, including those in the oil & gas sector, we need Turkish products, which will further boost the trade relations in future.”
→ Continued on page 22
$60m aquatic research centre to boost Qatar’s seafood sector SATISH KANADY
THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar’s soon-to be-opened Ras Matbakhh Aquatic and Fisheries Research Centre in Al Dhakira will give a fillip to the country’s ongoing efforts to make it self-sufficient in seafood demand.
The $60m project is in the final stage of completion and is expected to open in the coming months, Mohammad Al Abdullah (pictured), Head of Aquatic Research Centre under the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, said.
Speaking on the sidelines of ‘French Agriculture Technology Conference’’, here yesterday, Al Abdullah said Qatar has embarked on a strategic mission to make the country self-suffi-cient in seafood sector. Cur-rently, Qatar’s total seafood pro-duction stands at an estimated 14,000- 16,000 tonnes per year. “This is 6,000 tonnes less than the total demand of the country. We are working on to close this gap. With the support of advanced technologies, we are hopeful to meet this target very soon”, Al Abdullah said.
The Research Centre is
aiming to set up innovative aquaculture techniques by using latest fish and shrimp tech-nology suitable for the local commercial fish species and to assist private sector in aquacul-ture field.
The objective of the research centre includes developing pro-duction protocols for fish hatching and growing of most interesting marine species including all the rearing cycles. The centre will also provide good quality fish fingerlings at low prices to encourage the pri-vate sector to establish fish farm project, he said.
The research centre has
plans to launch long term pro-gramme to make sure that the biodiversity of the marine envi-ronment is protected. It will pro-vide the coastal communities to develop alternative methods to meet the local fish demand through adopting aquaculture methods and thus preventing the overfishing from sea.
A delegation of 13 French companies attended the “French Technologies in Agriculture” Conference Event. The meet, held with the support of French Embassy in Qatar, also wit-nessed discussions with Qatari officials and other stakeholders in order to explore new ways of technology transfer, research and development.
French agribusiness experts are specialised in new concept of fruits and vegetable produc-tion, from greenhouses to urban farms, monitoring the prolifer-ation of infectious diseases, organic-mineral fertilizers and alternatives to agricultural addi-tives based on algae. The com-panies like PFI Nouvelles Vagues and Tarbouriech shared their experience in aquaculture and fisheries.
→ Continued on page 22
As part of supporting domestic industries, QDB supported in 2017 home-based entrepreneurs through “Made at Home” exhibition, in which 144 exhibitors took part with sales amounting to QR4m.
9,098.64 -8.13 PTS0.09 %
QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,246.77 -0.89 PTS0.01%
25,129.95 +89.43 PTS0.35% Dow & Brent before going to press
$62.09 +0.41
22 WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018BUSINESS
Qatar Chamber hosts Moroccan exportersTHE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar Chamber board member Ali Abdullatif Al Misnad said that Qatar-Morocco rela-tions saw substantial progress within the past years, particu-larly after the mutual visits of both countries’ leaderships. These visits helped in promot-ing cooperation fields to the level of both countries’ peoples aspi-rations.
This came during a meeting with a delegation representing the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX) led by its president Hassan El Sentissi El Edrissi, in the presence of Nabi Zniber, ambassador of Kingdom of Morocco to Qatar.
El Misnad noted that both leaderships played a key role in cementing cooperation ties at all levels, pointing out that Qatar and Morocco enjoy huge poten-t ia ls and investment opportunities in which the pri-vate sector can establish partnerships and joint ventures. The trade volume between them
reached last year to QR291m which is sti l l below expectations.
The forum reflected the Moroccan desire to develop cooperation relation with the Qatari side and open new broad horizons of partnerships for the privilege of both economies, he added.
Underlining the importance of investment in Morocco, Misnad said that Qatari business-men are keen on exploring investment opportunities galore in the Kingdom which is replete with promising opportunities
a t t r a c t i n g a l l w o r l d businessmen.
On his part, ASMEX’s presi-dent Hassan El Sentissi El Edrissi invited Qatari businessmen to visit Morocco to explore business climate and establish invest-ments in all fields.
He praised the substantial potentials both sides own which hold promising future for both countries’ relations. He affirmed the importance of studying the available opportunities and intensifying mutual visits between businessmen to over-come all economic challenges.
Terming his country as “a gate to Europe”, El Edrissi said that Morocco is a gateway for Qatari companies which desire to enter into the European mar-kets due to its strategic geographical position.
Nabil Zniber, ambassador of Kingdom of Morocco to Qatar, said that this meeting empha-sized the distinct relations that both countries enjoy and their wise leaderships. Qatar is highly respected and appreciated
worldwide for its positive and honouring situations, he added.
The Moroccan delegation represented top companies active in various sectors includ-ing agriculture, chemical
industry, construction and civil engineering, fishing industry, IT, transportation, manufacturing, mining, pharmaceutical and tex-tiles. Many presentations on business and investment
opportunities in Morocco were made at the event. ASMEX aims at encouraging and promoting Moroccan exports, goods and services available or in progress on international markets.
Qatar Chamber board member Ali Abdullatif Al Misnad (centre) with ASMEX President Hassan El Sentissi El Edrissi (right) and Nabi Zniber, Ambassador of Morocco to Qatar while exchanging mementos .
Qatari-Omani business meet to be held in AprilTHE PENINSULA
DOHA: Under the patronage of HE Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) will organ-ise ‘The Qatari-Omani joint business entrepreneurs meet-ing’ in Doha on April 11 and 12, 2018.
The event will be held in collaboration with Modern Talent, a Omani-based com-pany that specialises in organising events and conferences.
The meeting is the result of GOIC’s endeavours to strengthen industrial and commercial cooperation and coordination between GCC countries. The joint business meeting aims at encouraging industrial and commercial partnerships to contribute to economic development in the two countries by promoting cooperation between Qatari and Omani businessmen and investors. Furthermore, the meeting will introduce the various characteristics and scopes of investment oppor-tunities in Qatar and Oman to help young entrepreneurs to innovate and boost all forms of investments.
In addition to that, the meeting aims to benefit from the unlimited human and nat-ural capabilities, to promote economic relations in various fields, to encourage partner-ships between factory owners and experts in both countries and to facilitate Qatari and Omani businessmen’s invest-ment ventures in Qatar and Oman. Moreover, the meet-ing will present an opportunity to stimulate Qatari-Omani economic rela-tions to increase commercial exchange in line with the expectations of the two countries.
The meeting will focus on key economic sectors such as heavy industries, logistics, tourism, technology and soft-ware, real estate, hospitals and healthcare, gas and its derivatives, food industries, agriculture and livestock.
The key themes of the meeting include: strengthen-ing commercial exchange, contributing to economic development of both coun-tries, investing in the sectors of technology and communi-cations and discussing investment opportunities.
Morocco is a gateway for Qatari companies which desire to enter into the European markets due to its strategic geographical position.
→ Continued from page 21Al Kuwari pointed out that
the total number of Turkish companies in the Qatari mar-ket is 205, of which 186 are joint ventures, and 19 companies with full ownership of the Turk-ish capital.
He added that these com-panies are engaged in various sectors, including infrastruc-ture, construction, trade, electrical works, car parts, foodstuffs and other important sectors.
He also said that the size of the projects executed by Turk-ish contracting companies in Qatar is to the tune of $11.6bn. And there are more business and investment opportunities for the private sector businesses from both the countries.
The economic cooperation between Qatar and Turkey, the two friendly nations, acceler-ated in a big way from the early June last year following the blockade. Turkey was the first country that stood by Qatar and supplied all the needful goods and essential commodities within days by air and sea routes, witnessing sharp jump in Turkey’s exports to Qatar.
Turkey’s exports to Qatar in 2017 reached $750m, register-ing a 50 percent growth compared to the same period previous year. Both the coun-tries are working closely to further deepen and expand the
areas of bilateral cooperation. A 50-memebr trade dele-
gation, representing scores of companies from a wide range of sectors, including food, elec-trical, construction materials, metals, plastics and others, are here on a three-day visit as part of their match-making mission with Qatari businessmen to enhance trade relations, and also to jointly invest in Qatar, Turkey and some other mar-kets. Industry representatives from both sides held B2B meet-ings under the motto of ‘Turkey Discover the potential’ and con-tinuing to explore investment opportunities.
“We are a group of Turkey’s largest exporters and import-ers representing over 70,000 companies employing over 3.1 million workers. We hope that the bilateral trade relations will register a major boost in the near future,” Ahmet Gulec, Member of the Board of Turk-ish Exporters Assembly (TIM), and head of the trade delega-tion, told this newspaper.
Gulec added: “The current level of bilateral trade volume is $1.5bn, but we believe that it has the potential to grow up to $5bn within few years. We see meetings are being held between the businessmen from Turkey and Qatar almost on daily basis, witnessing a fast and steady growth in trade and economic cooperation.”
→ Continued from page 21Christelle Peyran, Head of
Business France Qatar, stated: “France has a lot to offer in the field of agriculture and sustain-able development. After hosting the COP21 and the One Planet Summit, French ecosystem is focused on innovations to pro-duce food while protecting the environment. We are the 3rd European producer of fruits and vegetables. We have developed new concepts of urban farmin-gor aquaponics.”
France is the first agricul-tural producer in Europe. France has over 19 million cattle, more than any other country and has
34 percent of all bovine live-stock raised for meat in Europe.
The fishing industry – from boat to consumer – is ranked 4th among sea fisheries in Europe, with 9 percent of com-munity catches, continental France has 63 fishing ports, 38 fish markets, 12 producers’ organisations and 608 whole-sa le and process ing companies.
France produces 9 million tonnes (mt) of fruit and vegeta-bles and 5.3 mt of ware potatoes in a total area of 550,000 hectares.
“The government of Qatar launched several initiatives to
support local production such as a proactive food safety pro-gramme “Qatar National Food Security Programme” (QNFSP), aiming to develop the agricul-ture market and ensure food-self efficiency by 2023. France is willing to cooperate with Qatar and share its know-how in agriculture field.”, Peyran added.
Business France is the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, responsi-ble for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and facilitating inter-national investment in France.
Officials and experts at the French Business Seminar held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Doha yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA
$60m aquatic research centre to boost Qatar’s seafood sector
Qatar-Turkey trade volume set to touch $5bn
Doha Bank crowns final Millionaire of Al Dana scheme’s 14th editionTHE PENINSULA
DOHA: Doha Bank held the 10th monthly draw of its 2017 Al Dana Savings Scheme campaign on Monday.The finale of the 14th edition of Qatar’s most reward-ing savings programme was held at Mall of Qatar and saw the crowning of a new millionaire, A Haleyangadi along with 18 additional winners, who walked away with prizes worth a combined QR1.3m.
M Al Jassim, emerged as the QR100,000 winner, while fifteen other lucky customers received QR10,000 each.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait Draw of 2,500 KWD prize went to A Al
Sayegh.Streamed live on Doha
Bank’s social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the conclusive draw event of the 2017 Al Dana Sav-ings Scheme Campaign was attended by VIP invitees, mem-bers of Doha Bank’s senior management, as well as guests from all over Doha, who enjoyed the excitement of the live musi-cal performances and the life changing draws.
“We are thrilled to conclude the incredible 14th edition of Al Dana Savings Scheme. During the past year, we were able to reward several of our loyal cus-tomers with life-changing prizes,
with 10 lucky customers being crowned into millionaires and many more lucky customers winning grand cash prizes. There is no better way to end this,” said Dr R Seetharaman, CEO of Doha
Bank. “The Al Dana Savings
scheme for 2018 will be a whole new experience and promises to be the highlight of each month for our customers, where many
more exciting prizes and millions are waiting to be won simply by saving with the Al Dana Savings account with Doha Bank,” said Braik Al Marri, Acting Chief Retail Banking Officer.
Doha Bank officials giving away a symbolic cheque for the Al Dana Saving Scheme’s QR1m winner.
23WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018 BUSINESS
EU vows to strike back at US trade threatAFP
BRUSSELS: The EU, yesterday warned it would take “appro-priate measures” to defend its interests if the US imposes tough trade sanctions as Pres-ident Donald Trump delivers on his protectionist policies.
The US Commerce Depart-ment on Friday recommended imposing heavy tariffs on China, Russia and European exporters to counter a global glut in steel and aluminium, laying out an array of possible options in a report to Trump.
The move hands Trump his first opportunity to deliver on the “America First” trade promise, but has stoked fears of retaliation and a global trade war.
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Brussels would be “deeply concerned” by any sanctions hitting EU businesses.
“We would be taking appropriate measures to defend EU industry, and we stand ready to react swiftly and appropriately in case our exports are affected by any restrictive trade measures from the United States,” Schinas told a daily briefing.
But Schinas insisted that international trade would always remain “win-win” if partners played by the rules.
“We are not in a trade war,” he said.
Trump has until mid-April to decide whether he will move forward, with expectations high that any US action is likely to be challenged by exporting nations in the World Trade
Organization. The commis-sion, which handles trade policy for the EU’s 28 member states, however refused to comment on reports that offi-cials had already drawn up specific measures to counter Trump.
Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported yesterday that Brus-sels was mulling tarrifs on Harley-Davidson motorcycle imports as well as bourbon from Tennessee and Kentucky.
Washington’s recom-mended steel and aluminium sanctions address long-standing concerns about mainly Chinese overproduc-tion, but take the extraordinary tack of framing them in terms of national security and defence.
The administration of former President Barack Obama also sought to tackle the subject but emphasised trade talks with China rather than punitive measures.
The US proposals could hurt European countries as well as China, which is the world’s largest steel producer but provides less than one per-cent of US imports and sells only 10 percent of its wrought aluminium abroad.
London-Amsterdam direct rail serviceEurostar’s CEO Nicolas Petrovic (right) and NS CEO’s Roger van Boxtel meet in front of the new Eurostar at Amsterdam Central Station, in Amsterdam yesterday, after the train departed from London. Train manufacturer Siemens and Dutch train company NS announced the start of new direct train connection from London to Amsterdam on April 4, 2018.
BP sees self-driving electric vehicles crimping oil demand by 2040REUTERS
LONDON: The emergence of self-driving electric cars and travel sharing are set to dent oil consumption by 2040, oil and gas giant BP said, forecasting a peak in demand for the first time.
In its benchmark annual Energy Outlook, BP forecast a 100-fold growth in electric vehi-cles by 2040, with its chief econ-omist Spencer Dale (pictured) painting a world in which we travel much more but instead of using private cars, we increas-ingly share trips in autonomous vehicles.
While travel demand more than doubles over the period as economies in countries such as China and India grow, higher oil demand will be more than offset by increased engine efficiency standards as well as the larger number of EVs and shared travelling.
Unlike many other forecasts, including previous BP Energy Outlooks, which looked solely at the growing share of EVs in the
car fleet, BP this year focused on the share of vehicles kilometres powered by electricity. Under BP’s Evolving Transition sce-nario, which assumes that poli-cies and technology continue to evolve at a speed similar to that seen in the recent past, some 30 percent of car kilometres are powered by electricity by 2040 from almost zero in 2016.
At the same time, the number of EVs is set to increase from 3 million today to over 320 million
by 2040, representing roughly 15 percent out of a total car fleet of 2 billion.
The gap between the increasing number of EVs on the road and the kilometres powered by electricity is due to the expected growth in so-called shared mobility by EVs, Dale said. “Cars will be used much more intensely over time,” Dale told reporters in a briefing on Monday ahead of the release of the report yesterday.
As a result, fuel demand from the car fleet is forecast to dip to 18.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2040 from 18.7 million bpd in 2016, when it represented around one fifth of total oil demand, according to BP.
BP expects autonomous vehi-cles to become available in the early 2020s. Their initial high cost means the vast majority of the cars will be bought by fleets offering shared mobility services.
The average electric car is expected to be driven about two and a half times more than an
internal combustion car, according to Dale.
“What we expect to see in the 2030s is a huge growth in shared mobility autonomous cars ... Once you don’t have to pay for a driver, the cost of taking one of those share mobility fleets serv-ices will fall by about 40 or 50 percent,” Dale said.
The vast majority of the shared mobility is expected to be EVs because of their lower main-tenance costs.
Car makers including Gen-eral Motors and high-tech giants such as Google Waymo and Uber Technologies have poured bil-lions into the autonomous vehi-cles industry hoping gain a first-mover advantage. Robo-taxi services are seen as the main use for most self-driving vehicles.
BP sharply raised its estimate of growth in electric vehicles in the coming decades from last year’s forecast that EVs would reach 100 million by 2035. The big upwards revision is due to an increase in hybrid cars and an expected sharp growth in EV
purchases in the second half of the 2030s, Dale said.
London-based BP joined other oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell in forecasting a peak for oil demand in the late 2030s, when it is expected to slightly decline at around 110 million bpd. It did not foresee a peak in demand in its previous outlooks that stretched into 2035.
While the transportation sector will continue to dominate the growth in oil consumption, demand for plastic manufac-turing will become the main source of growth in the 2030s.
Oil companies such as BP, Shell and France’s Total are bet-ting on growing demand from the petrochemical sector in the coming decades.
Dale however said changes in regulations for plastics con-sumption such as stringent pol-icies on plastic bags and pack-aging could dent oil demand by as much as 2 million bpd, roughly the same as the impact of EVs.
Overall energy demand will continue to grow in the coming
decades, rising by a third into 2040, or roughly 1.3 percent per year, driven by growth in China and India, but the world is learning to “do more with less energy” as economies become more efficient, Dale said.
For example, the European Union’s gross domestic product is set to treble in 2040 from 1975 but the level of energy demand will be the same. China’s energy demand will continue to grow but at a slower pace by the 2030s, when India will become the main driver of growth.
BP once again revised upwards its forecast for growth in renewable power, which is set to grow by 40 percent by 2040, with its share in the energy mix increasing from 4 percent to 14 percent.
The revision is due to tech-nological gains as well as more aggressive government policies, particularly in India and China.
“There is plenty of scope for policy to continue to surprise us” to further boost the growth in the renewables, Dale said.
Central American nations tosign trade deal with S KoreaAFP
SAN SALVADOR: Five Central American nations are to sign a free trade deal with South Korea today, after more than two years of talks to ease tariffs and barriers on a range of products, El Salvador’s government announced.
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama will seal the pact with the Asian country, sending their economy ministers to the signing ceremony.
Six Central American coun-tries had been involved in the negotiations, but one of them, Guatemala, was staying outside the deal at this stage.
Guatemala said it had yet to finalize trade discussions with South Korea.
Talks on the pact started in June 2015 and covered 21 chap-ters addressing market access, rules of origin, trade facilitation, health and phytosanitary meas-ures, trade defense, investment and technical obstacles to trade.
The agreement “is an
example of how an adequate balance can be found between opening new market opportu-nities for products and, at the same time, respect the sensitiv-ities of productive sectors,” the Salvadoran economy ministry said in a statement.
After the signing, the accord is due to be submitted for rati-fication to the participating countries’ legislatures.
In 2016, Central America imported $1.08bn from South Korea and exported $143m to the country.
HSBC weighson European banking stocks
REUTERS
LONDON: European shares were mixed ahead of Wall Street’s return from a holiday, with banks falling after HSBC reported weaker than expected earnings and said it needed as much as $7bn of fresh capital.
At 0955 GMT, the pan-regional STOXX 600 bench-mark was unchanged at 378.24 points after Europe ended a three-day recovery during the previous session. The banks index was down 0.7 percent.
HSBC was on track for its biggest daily share fall in a year after its trading update, the last under outgoing CEO Stuart Gulliver who has pushed through a painful restructuring of Europe’s big-gest bank by market value.
Credit Suisse analysts said HSBC’s pledge to undertake share buybacks “as and when appropriate” could mark a change in capital return strategy by the new management.
Some positive earnings buoyed sentiment.
Edenred was among top performers, rising 7 percent after the French provider of prepaid meal vouchers and cards reported record 2017 earnings, increased its divi-dend and expressed confi-dence for 2018.
Danish software devel-oper Simcorp led the Stoxx index with a 8.7 percent rise after its full year results.
Energy stocks supported indices, with BP, Total , Royal Dutch Shell and ENI up between 0.3 percent and 0.6 percent.
London’s FTSE fell 0.5 percent, pulled lower by HSBC and by the world’s big-gest miner, BHP, after it missed results forecasts, sending its shares down 3.6 percent.
InterContinental Hotels fell 4.5 percent after putting shareholder payouts on ice as it tries a new strategy to accelerate growth.
Financial software com-pany Temenos dropped 6 per-cent after news it was in advance talks to buy UK rival Fidessa Group for about 1.4 billion pounds.
Germany’s HeidelbergCe-ment gained 1.7 percent after it raised its target for syner-gies from the takeover of Ital-cementi for the third time in less than a year.
Venezuela’s digital coin ‘Petro’ makes debutAP
CARACAS: Venezuela became the first country to launch its own version of bitcoin, a move it hopes will provide a much-needed boost to its credit-stricken economy.
Officials say the so-called petro is backed by Venezuela’s crude oil reserves, the largest in the world.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro late last year announced he was creating the digital cur-rency to outmaneuver U.S. sanc-tions preventing cash-strapped Venezuela from issuing new
debt. But the US Treasury Department has thrown a damper on the release, warning US citizens and companies who buy the petro that they could be violating sanctions. Many also doubt the government’s commit-ment to transparency.
“My advice would be to tread very carefully with this - espe-cially considering the track record of the Venezuelan gov-ernment,” said Federico Bond, co-founder of Signatura, a dig-ital currency startup based in Argentina.
“They are not in a good posi-tion to obtain financing in any
other way, so this could be seen as a desperate move,” he added.
In total, Venezuela plans to issue 100 million digital tokens, with a pre-sale of 38.4 million and whose reference price is the current cost of a barrel of oil, or around $60.
Maduro has also touted the petro as the fulfillment of the late Hugo Chavez’s dream of upending global capitalism away from the dominance of the U.S. dollar and Wall Street.
“Petro will be an instrument for Venezuela’s economic sta-bility and financial independ-ence, coupled with an ambitious
and global vision for the crea-tion of a freer, more balanced and fairer international finan-cial system,” the government said in a 22-page white paper, translated into English, outlining its plans.
But critics point out that for now sale of the petro will only be in dollars - a sign of how much Venezuela’s own currency, the bolivar, has melted under four-digit inflation.
Some bitcoin enthusiasts also question the whole concept of Venezuela, or any government, promoting a digital currency when such instruments were
originally created to circumvent the controlling role of the state.
Bitcoin and other digital tokens are already widely used in Venezuela as a hedge against hyperinflation and an easy-to-use mechanism for paying for everything in a country where obtaining hard currency requires transactions in the illegal black market.
The use of computers for bit-coin mining has also taken off, spurred by some of the world’s cheapest electricity rates and widespread desperation prompted by a recession deeper than the US Great Depression.
Brussels would be “deeply concerned” by any sanctions hitting EU businesses.
24 WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018BUSINESS
WTO chief urges US to avoid paralysing trade systemAFP
GENEVA: The World Trade Organization chief, in an inter-view with AFP, urged the United States to avert “paralysis” in the global trade dispute settlement system, as economic tensions between Washington and China ratchet up.
The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) is seen as a crucial arm of the Geneva-based WTO, offer-ing nations a forum to work through grievances while avoid-ing an exchange of tariffs that can ignite a trade war.
While President Donald Trump’s protectionist adminis-tration has levelled hostile rhetoric towards the WTO in general, the DSB has been crip-pled by direct action.
Trump’s trade officials, who claim DSB rulings unfairly favour developing nations like China, have blocked the appointment of any new judges, intensifying the backlog in a court already
criticised for working too slowly. “If nothing is done and if we
continue down this road, clearly there will be a paralysis of the system”, the WTO’s director-general Roberto Azevedo (pictured) told AFP.
He added that he talks to the US “constantly” about the judges issue, but that there were “no developments that would
indicate that we are closer to a solution”.
The DSB is supposed to have seven judges to function prop-erly, but currently only has four, one of whom is set to leave when their term expires in September. Each case must be heard by three judges.
Azevedo said he was “rela-tively hopeful” the WTO’s 164 member-states are working on solutions that “will allow us to continue our work”.
The US Commerce Depart-ment earlier this month recommended imposing heavy tariffs on China and other coun-tries to counter a global glut in steel and aluminium which it says threatens national security.
China immediately vowed to protect its interests.
Trump is due to make a decision on possible tariffs next month, but analysts warn he may endorse the measures, taking advantage of an opportunity to
strike a highly public blow for his “America first” trade policy.
Should that happen, China could do what many nations have done in the past: assemble its lawyers and head to the DSB, arguing that the US actions vio-late rules that aim to create a level-playing field in global trade.
But with Washington con-tinuing to degrade the WTO’s mandate -- both rhetorically and
in practical terms -- some fear the world’s top two economies are on a collision course.
“The risk of a trade war is always present”, Azevedo said. “There are periods when it is higher, there are periods when it is less likely.”
But he warned that tit-for-tat unilateral action, outside the multilateral system that the WTO safeguards, is cause for serious concern.
“Once that begins to happen you have the domino effect and then it may spiral out of control very easily,” he said.
“Every now and again there is the tendency to take measures into ones’ hand and to fix it uni-laterally and that is always a dangerous road to go”.
During his presidential cam-paign, Trump called the WTO a “disaster” and threatened to pull the US out if elected.
While his administration has called for sweeping reforms within the organisation, the pull-out threat appears to have been more bark than bite.
“There is nothing in my con-versations with the United States that remotely indicates the pos-sibility that the US is leaving the WTO”, Azevedo told AFP.
“They do have concerns with several things that are happen-ing here, but they also said, number one, that the organisa-tion is very important and does a lot of good.”
German investor sentiment easesAFP
FRANKFURT: Investor senti-ment in Germany eased in February, a survey found yester-day, but not enough to dent the overall positive outlook for Europe’s biggest economy, analysts said.
The ZEW economic insti-tute’s monthly barometer shed 2.6 points to 17.8 points this month, but still came in well above the 15.0 points forecast by analysts surveyed by Factset.
Despite the drop, “the latest
survey results show an unchanged positive outlook for Germany,” ZEW president Achim Wambach said.
“The very good performance of the global economy and pri-vate consumption are important pillars of growth in Germany,” he said.
A breakdown of the monthly poll, which surveyed 211 analysts and investors, showed their assessment both of the current economic situation in Germany and the outlook for the coming months declined.
ZEW also calculates a barometer for investor sentiment in the wider eurozone and here, the assessment of the current economic situation improved, while investors’ expectations for the coming months slipped slightly. The German economy clocked up growth of 2.2 percent last year, its fastest pace since 2011, according to official data released in January.
With higher growth, “infla-tion expectations for Germany and the eurozone are increas-ing,” Wambach said.
IMF says it stopped Kenya’s access to $1.5bn standby creditREUTERS
NAIROBI: International Mone-tary Fund stopped Kenya’s access to a $1.5bn standby credit facility last June after fail-ing to agree with the government on a reduction of the fiscal deficit, the fund said on Tuesday.
The two-year precaution-ary facility, set to expire next month, was put in place for Kenya in case of unforeseen external shocks that could put pressure on the balance of payments.
The East African economy has not tapped the facility, which was preceded by a smaller standby one-year credit line in 2015, as foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank have soared to record highs.
“The programme has not been discontinued but access was lost in mid-June because a review had not been com-pleted,” said Jan Mikkelsen, IMF representative in Kenya.
“There was no agreement on the fiscal adjustment at the time and then I do believe the lengthy election period (later in the year) made it difficult to have a review and complete that in the period that followed.”
The government has pub-lished a plan to lower the deficit to 7 percent of GDP at the end of this fiscal year in June, from 8.9 percent in 2016/17, and to less than 5 percent in three
years’ time. Mikkelsen said a team from the fund’s Washing-ton headquarters was in the country for talks on a Kenyan request for a new standby credit facility. He did not comment on the government’s fiscal deficit reduction plan.
“We have just started dis-cussions,” he said. “I’m hopeful we will get an agreement.”
The fund wanted to see “substantial fiscal consolida-tion” to lower the deficit and put the country’s debt onto a “sustainable path”.
Kenya’s total debt has risen to about 50 percent of GDP, from 42 percent in 2013, as it borrowed locally and abroad to build infrastructure like a new railway line from Nairobi to the port of Mombasa.
At the time it secured the precautionary facility from the IMF, officials at the fund said it was a triumph of Kenya’s sta-ble economic fundamentals, because that type of facility is usually reserved for more d e v e l o p e d e m e r g i n g economies.
But investor worries have grown due to the gaping fiscal deficit and sluggish private sec-tor credit growth, after the government capped lending rates at 14 percent in 2016.
“The interest rate controls should either be eliminated or significantly modified to allow banks to price risks properly and thereby promote an increase in credit to the private sector,” Mikkelsen said.
Sony jumps into Japan taxi market with AI app plansAFP
TOKYO: Electronics giant Sony, yesterday, announced a plan to provide an AI-based ride-hailing system to Japa-nese cab companies, while another taxi firm said they were in talks with Uber on a tie-up.
Sony said it was planning a joint venture to offer artifi-cial intelligence technology to six taxi operators, which currently own a total of 10,000 vehicles in Tokyo.
The technology would use AI to predict demand for taxis and allow companies to more efficiently mobilise their resources.
The companies will form a joint venture this spring to develop a taxi-hailing app, though Sony said further dis-cussions would be held before any legally-binding agree-ment is inked.
Also yesterday, Daiichi Kotsu Sangyo, a taxi company based in southern Fukuoka prefecture, announced they are in talks to join hands with US ride-sharing titan Uber.
Taxi-hailing apps have found it challenging to crack the Japanese market, where risk-averse passengers pre-fer to stick to their high-quality traditional taxi service. Hailing a taxi rarely takes more than a few sec-onds in major Japanese cities and there has been a rela-tively sluggish uptake of services like Uber, where consumers order an unli-censed car via a smartphone app.
The vast majority of taxis are hailed or hired from a cab rank, and a relatively small percentage of taxis are con-nected to a smartphone, posing another barrier to the success of apps like Uber.
But the number of taxi passengers has been on the decline, dropping by a third between 2005 and 2015, according to the transport ministry.
Taxi companies hope apps could be a way to win back customers.
Sony’s plans come after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing announced ear-lier this month a deal with Japanese telecom firm Soft-Bank to develop a taxi app in Japan.
Carmaker Toyota also announced an investment of 7.5 billion yen ($70m) in the JapanTaxi app this month, which says it is the biggest taxi-hailing app in Japan.
Britain urges EU to work jointly on Brexit dealREUTERS
VIENNA: Brexit minister David Davis (pictured) said yesterday Britain and the European Union could reach a deal to access each others’ markets and dismissed fears Britain would use Brexit to cut regulation to attract global businesses, despite past threats to do so.
In the latest of several speeches by ministers to lay out Britain’s Brexit plans, Davis told business leaders in Austria that fears of Britain plunging into a “Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction” after leaving the EU are unfounded.
Instead, he proposed a sys-tem of “mutual recognition” where both sides agree common regulatory outcomes, such as consumer protection or finan-cial stability, but are able to
pursue their own policies to reach those goals.
“This will be a crucial part of ensuring our future economic partnership is as open, and trade remains as frictionless, as pos-sible,” Davis said.
“Britain’s plan, its blueprint for life outside of Europe, is a race to the top in global stand-ards, not a regression from the high standards we have now.”
Davis is touring European capitals as Britain tries to per-suade EU leaders to strike a new deal on trade. Britain wants to retain close economic ties with the EU after it leaves the trading bloc in March next year, while also being free to strike new trade deals around the world.
But EU leaders have warned Britain can’t have both freedom from the bloc’s regulations and frictionless trade.
Davis said Britain wants to work with the EU to create the highest standards of rules in the world, and cited workers’ rights and financial regulation as areas that could be improved.
His comments are designed to allay European politicians’ concerns that Britain could cut taxes and regulation to attract global businesses.
Since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, supporters of Brexit have argued that remov-ing the costs imposed by EU rules would be one of the main bene-fits. Davis said Britain and the EU could preserve regulatory stand-ards by close cooperation between regulators and the use of an independent arbitration mechanism.
“The agreement we strike will not be about how to build convergence but what to do
when one of us wants to make changes to rules,” Davis said.
“Such mutual recognition will naturally require close, even-handed cooperation between these authorities and a common set of principles to guide them.”
He said the EU already has a number of mutual recognition
agreements with countries such as Switzerland, Canada and South Korea covering products including toys, cars, electronics and medical devices.
Business leaders, anxious to preserve cross-border supply chains, generally support the plan.
The speech provides “assur-ances that the government wants to maintain and improve stand-ards that deliver for consumers, whilst not inflicting any addi-tional administrative burden on business,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium.
Davis’s speech comes as the EU is formulating its approach to the next stage of the Brexit negotiations and ahead of a cru-cial cabinet meeting on Thursday to decide on Britain’s negotiat-ing strategy.
Ecofin meetSpain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos (left) speaks with European Investment Bank (EIB) President Werner Hoyer during a European Union finance ministers (Ecofin) meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels, yesterday.
Trump’s trade of-ficials, who claim DSB rulings unfairly favour developing nations like China, have blocked the ap-pointment of any new judges, intensifying the backlog in a court already criticised for working too slowly.
DSB, a crucial arm of WTO, offers
nations a forum to work through
grievances
25WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018 BUSINESS
QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE
QE Index 9,098.64 0.09 %
QE Total Return Index 15,361.80 0.09 %
QE Al Rayan Islamic
Index - Price 2,382.65 0.39 %
QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,681.67 0.33 %
QE All Share Index 2,553.34 0.21 %
QE All Share Banks &
Financial Services 2,866.07 0.08 %
QE All Share Industrials 2,801.51 0.02 %
QE All Share Transportation 1,950.90 0.27 %
QE All Share Real Estate 1,848.97 1.12 %
QE All Share Insurance 3,329.06 1.19 %
QE All Share Telecoms 1,054.76 0.72 %
QE All Share Consumer
Goods & Services 5,386.23 0.29 %
QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES
GOLD AND SILVER
20-02-2018Index 9,098.64
Change 8.13
% 0.09
YTD% 6.75
Volume 4,550,325
Value (QAR) 119,341,621.47
Trades 2,446
Up 18 | Down 21 | Unchanged 319-02-2018Index 9,106.77
Change 27.34
% 0.30
YTD% 6.84
Volume 8,744,765
Value (QAR) 200,342,198.16
Trades 3,838
EXCHANGE RATE
GOLD QR157.1812 per grammeSILVER QR1.9437 per gramme
Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low
All Ordinaries 6045.6 1.6 0.03 6256.5 5887.3
Cac 40 Index/D 5259.51 3.33 0.06 5567.03 5051.21
Dj Indu Average 25219.38 19.01 0.08 26616.71 20379.55
Hang Seng Inde/D 30873.63 -241.8 -0.78 33484.08 29129.26
Iseq Overall/D 6807.8 10.06 0.15 7257.41 6570.87
Kse 100 Inx/D 43294.95 -277.72 -0.64 45494.52 40169.62
S&P 500 Index/D 2732.22 1.02 0.037346 2872.87 2532.69
Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500
UK QR 5.0604 QR 5.1310
Euro QR 4.4671 QR 4.5302
CA$ QR 2.8660 QR 2.9225
Swiss Fr QR 3.8721 QR 3.9272
Yen QR 0.0337 QR 0.0344
Aus$ QR 2.8501 QR 2.9057
Ind Re QR 0.0557 QR 0.0568
Pak Re QR 0.0325 QR 0.0333
Peso QR 0.0690 QR 0.0704
SL Re QR 0.0233 QR 0.0238
Taka QR 0.0432 QR 0.0441
Nep Re QR 0.0348 QR 0.0355
SA Rand QR 0.3067 QR 0.3130
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD
Aarti Drugs-B/D 626 -0.9 1942
Aban Offs-A/D 171.15 0.3 151281
Acc Ltd-A/D 1641 8 16857
Ador Welding-B/D 432.35 0.55 1878
Aegis Logis-A/D 256 -5.05 7578
Alembic-B/D 60.85 0.35 58546
Alok Indus-T/D 3.13 -0.06 795489
Apollo Tyre-A/D 265.05 10.7 168447
Asahi I Glass-/D 338 1.55 5372
Ashok Leyland-/D 133.35 1.1 1169265
Ballarpur In-B/D 13.65 0.2 448199
Bata India-A/D 712 1.45 14983
Beml Ltd-A/D 1222.4 -6.35 32383
Bhansali Eng-B/D 165.95 -2.1 78641
Bharat Bijle-B/D 1426 14.95 1786
Bharat Ele-A/D 153.6 0.2 183632
Bharat Heavy-A/D 93.15 -0.15 399259
Bharatgears-B/D 193.1 -0.35 1723
Bhartiya Int-B/D 419.35 -14.45 2208
Bom.Burmah-X/D 1552 -11.4 19920
Bombay Dyeing-/D 281.6 -1.2 867592
Camph.& All-X/D 1011.1 -19.3 1602
Canfin Homes-A/D 514 10.9 148440
Caprihans-X/D 93.85 0.3 2580
Castrol India-/D 190.25 -1.4 76720
Century Enka-B/D 345.3 6.4 431692
Century Text-A/D 1199.4 12.7 53232
Chambal Fert-A/D 156.55 1.5 32001
Chola Invest-A/D 1330 -22 78108
Cimmco-T/D 96 -0.55 1024
Cipla-A/D 601.9 1.95 654127
City Union Bk-/D 176.9 2.95 42718
Colgate-A/D 1068.4 0.2 3516
Container Cor-/D 1292.8 0.8 5366
Dai-X/D 455 2.05 1931
Dcm Financia-B/D 3.07 -0.16 2000
Dcm Shram Ind-/D 247.55 -2.45 972
Dhampur Sugar-/D 208.75 3.45 113839
Dr. Reddy-A/D 2161.2 9.35 21405
E I H-B/D 171 -1.05 6538
E.I.D Parry-A/D 315.15 -1.35 12498
Eicher Motor-A/D 26988.35 -94.75 1260
Eimco Elecon-B/D 491 13.35 3476
Electrosteel-B/D 31.75 -0.1 90248
Emco-B/D 17.7 -0.25 59848
Escorts-A/D 852.9 -5.75 174337
Eveready Indu-/D 390 -1.25 1591
F D C-B/D 286.4 -0.9 4896
Federal Bank-A/D 91.7 -1.75 5889913
Ferro Alloys-X/D 10.69 -0.3 378597
Finolex-A/D 625 -7.2 8791
Gail-A/D 465.55 2.25 51828
Gammon India-T/D 5.19 -0.12 378962
Garden P -B/D 38.9 -0.3 10782
Godfrey Phil-A/D 874.4 2.4 5511
Goodricke-X/D 387.95 -5.6 7892
Goodyear I -B/D 1162 -1.4 3575
Hcl Infosys-A/D 60.9 -0.45 566043
Him.Fut.Comm-A/D 28.1 0.15 925499
Himat Seide-X/D 358.15 8.6 6523
Hind Motors-T/D 9.5 0.16 49505
Hind Org Chem-/D 23.05 -0.5 48649
Hind Unilever-/D 1333.95 -1.7 216082
Hind.Petrol-A/D 380.9 0.85 106945
Hindalco-A/D 248.55 1.25 371094
Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1809.15 -2.15 36531
Idbi-A/D 66.3 2.5 1055490
Ifci Ltd-A/D 22.8 -0.05 442855
India Cement-A/D 158.9 -0.75 166551
India Glycol-B/D 510.15 4.3 54529
Indian Hotel-A/D 135.5 -1.9 49221
Indo-A/D 100.05 -2.1 59637
Indusind-A/D 1632.2 0.5 42365
J.B.Chemical-B/D 305 5.1 2578
Jagson Phar-B/D 32.5 0.85 2546
Jamnaauto-B/D 74.4 -1.7 299727
Jbf Indu-B/D 165.9 -0.8 8419
Jct Ltd-X/D 3.42 0.03 108031
Jenson&Nich.-T/D 4.56 -0.24 1600
Jindal Drill-B/D 160.1 -1.35 6463
Jktyre&Ind-A/D 157.95 -2.9 165283
Jmc Projects-B/D 570.6 -15.45 2218
Kabra Extr-B/D 128.8 4.65 13179
Kajaria Cer-A/D 587 -2.95 8533
Kakatiya Cem-B/D 293.65 1.6 14586
Kalpat Power-B/D 453.55 -6.75 29027
Kalyani Stel-B/D 315 1.05 13974
Kanoria Chem-B/D 77.95 1.05 7622
Kg Denim-X/D 60.1 -1.05 5544
Kilburnengg-X/D 83 0.75 3303
Kinetic Eng-Xt/D 80 3.05 8731
Kopran-B/D 70.85 0.2 27272
Lakshmi Elec-X/D 628.55 7.3 4588
Lakshmi Mach-A/D 6078.4 78.7 3428
Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 49.45 -1.6 8341
Lloyd Metal-X/D 16.65 -0.45 17593
Lumax Ind-B/D 2232.25 20.35 1856
Lupin-A/D 815.8 -0.4 61841
Lyka Labs-B/D 57.55 -0.4 7515
Mah.Seamless-B/D 475.35 5.65 1567
Mangalam Cem-B/D 336 -2.7 890806
Maral Overs-B/D 38 0.65 1895
Mastek-B/D 479 -10.4 36247
Max Financial-/D 499.25 2.4 152960
Mrpl-A/D 117.75 -0.05 194159
Nagreeka Ex-T/D 39.55 1.85 2599
Nagreeka Ex-T/D 39.55 1.85 2599
Nahar Spg.-B/D 107.3 1.65 38007
Nation Alum -A/D 67.3 -1 2846286
Navneet Edu-B/D 134.5 -3.35 5703
Neuland Lab-B/D 713.55 5.7 3074
Nrb Bearings-B/D 160 3.1 10823
O N G C-A/D 187 2.05 286314
Oil Country-B/D 42.2 -0.8 2899
Onward Tech-B/D 95 -0.2 9516
Orchid Pharm-M/D 16.2 -0.05 49605
Orient Hotel-B/D 51.15 -0.05 28226
Punjab Chem.-X/D 417.75 4.75 2674
Radico Khait-A/D 327.85 -8.1 144290
Rallis India-A/D 230.75 5.75 21751
Rallis India-A/D 230.75 5.75 21751
Reliance Indus/D 475.75 -3.25 87333
Ruchi Soya-B/D 16.3 0.3 101445
Salora Inber-T/D 46 -0.25 6010
Samtel-T/D 2 0 2000
Saur.Cem-X/D 79.95 0.9 49512
Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 108.75 -2.45 9879
Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 108.75 -2.45 9879
Thirumalai-B/D 2007.45 -10.35 13240
Til Ltd.-B/D 520 12.25 1695
Timexgroup-T/D 52 2 18172
Tinplate-B/D 233 0.05 133490
Ucal Fuel-B/D 260 4.6 21885
Ucal Fuel-B/D 260 4.6 21885
Ultramarine-X/D 335.1 3.35 4451
Unitech P -B/D 7.29 0.06 2797754
Univcable-B/D 152.15 -0.2 7920
3I Group/D 908.8 9 225682
Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2637 -1 86584
Barclays/D 200.6 -0.4 30748801
Bp/D 476.3 2.25 5042424
Brit Am Tobacc/D 4447.5 7.5 992129
Bt Group/D 230.6 2.6 4044134
Centrica/D 130.75 2.05 16631602
Gkn/D 415.2 0.6 1368953
Hsbc Holdings/D 732.5 -28 21063535
Kingfisher/D 361 2.3 1839268
Land Secs./D 940.5 6 199475
Legal & Genera/D 255.6 0.6 2881260
Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 67.78 -0.17 31363714
Marks & Sp./D 298.4 0.9 769462
Next/D 4943 23 110554
Pearson/D 695.8 -1 283651
Prudential/D 1835.5 8.5 643737
Rentokil Initi/D 289.7 2.4 692446
Rolls Royce Pl/D 839.6 10.2 423599
Rsa Insrance G/D 610.6 3.8 658561
Sainsbury(J)/D 253 1.8 1255027
Schroders/D 3439 29 53838
Severn Trent/D 1723 8.5 141464
Smith&Nephew/D 1262.5 -0.5 283857
Smiths Group/D 1582.5 12.5 183156
Standrd Chart /D 817 -1.8 954004
Tate & Lyle/D 563.8 2.2 368581
Tesco/D 206.1 0.1 5139271
Unilever/D 3724.5 -7.5 545839
United Util Gr/D 670 6.8 491529
Vodafone Group/D 203.6 0.05 7915124
Whitbread/D 3887 -16 101768
COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED
COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED
COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED
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LONDON
26 WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018BUSINESS
Under the Patronage of H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani,
Governor of Qatar Central Bank and Chairman of Daam Fund
The 5th Conference of Social Responsibility and Awards Launching of the White Book on “Social Responsibility facing the siege”
Dar Al Sharq organises the 5th Conference of Social Responsibility and Awards under the theme “Responsibilities despite Challenges” in cooperation with the Sports and Social Activities Support Fund (Daam).
The Conference will witness distribution of awards for the Social Responsibility 2017, launch of the 5th edition of the White Book titled “Social Responsibility facing the siege”. The awards will be offered to the entities who have contributed the most in the field of social responsibility in the presences of a number of official institutions, stakeholders, specialists and state officials.
Date: 26/2/2018
Day: Monday
Time: 8:30am to 1:00pm
Place: Conference venue at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
EmailMobileTel
Main supporter Gold Sponsor Organiser
The European Union is shutting down a border checkpoint scheme with Ukraine, deepening doubts about Kiev’s ability to deliver reforms in return for billions in European aid.
The project to upgrade six Ukrainian checkpoints on the EU’s eastern frontier was launched in 2014, after Europe backed Kiev’s pro-Western leaders during the Crimean crisis.
The scheme aimed to help integrate Ukraine’s economy with those of its EU neighbours by building or modernising checkpoints at crossings with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. According to the EU, the projects were designed to cut border crossing times and improve customs procedures.
They foundered after a series of delays, missteps and cost overruns involving local officials and contractors, according to internal Ukrainian government correspondence, and correspondence
between the European Commission and the Kiev authorities provided by a source at a government body.
In a statement to Reuters, an EU spokesperson said: “Following our assessment we concluded that the projects could not be finalised in time. The 6 projects are now in the process of being closed, and the unspent money reimbursed.” One senior European diplomat who is involved in dealing with Ukraine said: “There is a
certain Ukraine fatigue. People are exasperated by the lack of reform, especially on corruption. Things have stalled.” But he said the EU would keep supporting the country, which remains fragile four years after Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Moscow separatists launched a rebellion in the east. As of the end of 2017, none of the six checkpoint projects had been completed, even though the EU was providing €29.2m ($36m) in funding.
The State Fiscal Service (DFS), the tax and customs authority which oversaw the projects on the Ukraine side, said in a statement that reasons for the delays included staff changes at the service along with the long time taken to issue contract tenders and win approval for changes to plans.
Roman Nasirov, a former DFS head who took over in May 2015, said in an interview that the checkpoints projects had been complicated by the fact that Ukraine could not at times afford the required co-financing. He made the comments to Reuters shortly before he was dismissed on Jan. 31 for reasons unrelated to these projects.
The biggest contract, for two of the checkpoints, was awarded to Energomontazhventiliatsia, a firm that specialises in installing ventilation units and had no track record of winning government construction tenders, according to an online registry of state contracts. Speaking to Reuters in October, Energomontazhventiliatsia’s finance director Serhiy Romanenko blamed obstructive Ukrainian and EU officials for the failure to complete the two checkpoints on the Romanian border. “The Dyakivtsi and Krasnoilsk checkpoints are 80-85 percent completed, but as of today we have not received a single penny,” he told Reuters.
EU scraps border projects as ‘Ukraine fatigue’ grows
Latvia central banker fires back in deepening corruption scandalOLENA VASINA
REUTERS
AARON EGLITIS, HENRY MEYER &
IRINA REZNIK BLOOMBERG
THE embattled head of Latvia’s central bank denied seeking bribes and accused two of the country’s lenders of conspiring
against him as the crisis engulfing the Baltic nation’s banking system deepened.
“I have taken the decision not to resign,” Ilmars Rimsevics, the Bank of Latvia’s governor and representative to the European Central Bank, told reporters at a press conference in Riga yesterday. “I am not guilty.”
The Latvian government has repeatedly urged Rimsevics to step aside after the anti-corruption agency detained him over the weekend on suspicion of securing bribes. Rimsevics, who was released on bail and hasn’t been formally charged, alleged that the accusations were part of an effort to undermine him and said he has received death threats.
The governor, who’s led the Latvian central bank since 2001, may be protected by the institution’s independence. The latest allegations, first reported by the Associated Press, concern Norvik Banka JSC, which is controlled by Grigory
Guselnikov, a Russian-born UK citizen. Norvik detailed the accusations in a
39-page complaint to a World Bank arbitration body. The document, obtained by Bloomberg News, didn’t name him, referring only to a “very high-level, senior Latvian public official.” The chief executive officer of Norvik bank, Oliver Bramwell, said this official is Rimsevics.
The complaint against Latvia, filed in December, also alleged that the Latvian banking regulator had retaliated against Norvik for the refusal to pay the bribes over a two-year period to late 2017.
The bribery probe into the central bank chief is just a piece of the widening financial scandal in Latvia, a nation of two million that’s faced repeated questions over its role as a hub for money-laundering.
Just last week, the US Treasury Department proposed to ban ABLV Bank SA, the nation’s third-largest lender, from the US financial system, saying it helped entities allegedly linked to North Korea’s missile programme and institutionalised money-laundering as a “pillar” of its business.
The latest allegations have put the government in a tight spot. While Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis has called for Rimsevics to step down, he also accused Norvik yesterday of seeking to
undermine the integrity of the country’s financial system. Norvik must present evidence of its allegations, Kucinskis said yesteray.
“There is reason to think that this is more likely Norvik Bank’s and Mr Guselnikov’s attempt to harm the state’s image,” Kucinskis told reporters in Riga. “Anyone can submit legal evidence or turn to the relevant authorities and inform them about violations, including payments or demands for bribes. At the moment, none of Norvik Bank’s representatives have submitted any evidence to any relevant authority.”
Rimsevics accused a group of banks of trying to undermine him, deceiving law enforcement and regulators. Just hours after he denied a loan from the central bank to ABLV on February 16, his office and house were searched by Latvian authorities, he said.
The central banker also said he received a text message at the end of last month threatening that he would be shot, and informed law enforcement officials.
Gulselnikov has demanded €200m to leave Latvia and give up his bank, Rimsevics claimed. “I have no doubt that these banks are coordinating among themselves against me and the state of Latvia,” he said.
Guselnikov hit back at Rimsevics, who was deputy governor of the central bank from 1992 before taking over the helm in 2001.
“Now the regulator is trying to pretend there was no corruption. It’s clear he was at the top of it, without him nothing would have happened,” the Russian-born banker said by phone from London. “For 25 years Rimsevics has been directing things.”
Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, which detained Rimsevics, said it had begun criminal proceedings against a “a top-level public official” of the country’s central bank. It’s investigating “an alleged solicitation and acceptance of a bribe” of at least €100,000, it said in a
statement. Rimsevics, 52, was released late
Monday following 48 hours in custody after his friend put up a €100,000 bail, local media reported. He’s the longest-serving head of a national bank on the ECB’s Governing Council, which he joined in 2014 when Latvia adopted the euro.
As governor, Rimsevics enjoys robust independence. Deputy Governor Zoja Razmusa will fill in for him while he’s not at the bank, a spokesman said on Sunday.
Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola said her country’s reputation was suffering because of the scandals. Her ministry has changed its borrowing strategy and will refrain from refinancing operations in the near term, she said, adding that Latvia asked the US Treasury to discuss and share data on the ABLV.
While the lender denied the US charges, the ECB slapped a payment moratorium on the lender on Monday. The bank has seen an outflow of €600m in both deposits and securities since the Treasury report, Peters Putnins, chairman of Latvia’s Financial and Capital Markets Commission, said in an interview with public broadcaster yesterday.
“Most” of information in the Treasury report was known to the regulator, he said.
Latvia’s benchmark stock gauge, the OMX Riga Index, fell 0.1 percent to 1,021.337 yesterday after dropping 0.9 percent the day before.
To shake off accusations that its lenders hold wealth with questionable origins, Latvia’s financial regulator has fined three banks for handling accounts that were involved in a $1bn Moldovan fraud in 2014. Five Latvian banks -- including ABLV -- agreed last year to fines for failing to perform adequate due diligence and gather sufficient information on transactions and beneficiaries of deals linked to North Korea.
INDIA’S central bank is reviewing its process for allowing companies to raise money overseas due
to concern that any increase in rupee volatility may hurt borrowers’ ability to repay debt, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Reserve Bank of India is spending more time scrutinizing companies’ hedging practices, vetting borrowers more closely to prepare for any financial-market fallout from an increase in US interest rates, the person said, asking not to be named as the matter is private.
The new process is resulting in slower approvals in recent weeks for offshore debt sales, people said. The RBI hasn’t issued loan registration
numbers to some borrowers recently, they said. Companies need to obtain LRNs for raising debt overseas under the country’s external commercial borrowing guidelines.
“RBI’s prime concern is to avoid any defaults by companies offshore, ”said Raj Kothari, head of trading at Jay Capital Ltd in London. “Such scrutiny will further improve the trust of international investors in Indian issuers.”
Overseas bond sales have stalled this month after Indian firms raised $15.6bn last year, most since 2014, taking advantage of record-low borrowing costs.
Concern about the pace of inflation and the outlook for borrowing costs in the US sent tremors through global markets in early February, and the rupee is one of the worst-performing major global currencies so far
this year. While offshore dollar bond issuance so far this year has maintained pace with last year, any restrictions on borrowing rules could impact some of India’s biggest borrowers including Bharti Airtel Ltd, ONGC Videsh Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, Indian
Railway Finance Corp Ltd and Suzlon Energy Ltd which have debt coming due this year.
An email and text message to RBI spokesman Jose Kattoor was unanswered.
The RBI already keeps a close watch on Indian firms borrowing abroad and has a
pricing cap on offshore borrowing, restricting the number of companies looking to access foreign debt. This means that only 5 percent of dollar bond deals from Asia excluding Japan come from Indian borrowers.
Central bank rules state that Indian firms can’t sell three-to five-year debt abroad with an all-in cost of more than 300 basis points over the six month London interbank offered rate and 450 basis points for notes with tenors of more than five years.
In a speech in December, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said that the rate of short term overseas debt growth should not exceed the pace of reserves growth. India’s short term debt was at around $100bn or around a quarter of the total foreign exchange reserves of $420bn, RBI’s Acharya said.
India to tighten approvals for offshore borrowingANTO ANTONY, DIVYA PATIL
& ANURAG JOSHI BLOOMBERG
As of the end of 2017, none of the six checkpoint projects had been completed, even though the EU was providing €29.2m ($36m) in funding.
Rimsevics, 52, was released late Monday following 48 hours in custody after his friend put up a €100,000 bail, local media reported.
The Reserve Bank of India is spending more time scrutinizing companies’ hedging practices, vetting borrowers more closely to prepare for any financial-market fallout.
27WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018 BUSINESS VIEWS
A file photo of Ilmars Rimsevics, Governor Bank of Latvia, arrives for a dinner during the Jackson Hole economic symposium, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in Moran, Wyoming, US.
An Indian policeman stands guard with a sniffer dog at the entrance of the Reserve Bank of India in this file picture.
SAN FRANCISCO: Google makes ads show up in more smartphone apps than any other technology company. That is the core of a resurgent business for parent Alphabet Inc.
Google’s ad network unit has posted three straight quarters of year-over-year double-digit sales increases. The business is nearing $20bn in annual revenue, making it as important to Google’s top-line as its hardware, cloud computing and app store groups combined.
For years, the star of the network was Google’s AdSense, which delivers ads to websites in exchange for a cut of ad revenue. But as consum-ers migrate from desktop computing to mobile, momen-tum has shifted to AdMob, Google’s mass-market tool for third-party apps, and Double-Click for Publishers, its higher-end mobile software.
Google has lured app
developers from competitors by lowering commissions and simplifying software. And it is increasingly satisfying adver-tisers with hot new formats such as video.
Advertisers are taking notice. Alex Hewson, manag-ing partner at M&C Saatchi Mobile, said the London-based ad buying agency has used AdMob for years, but only recently has it become the “top supplier.”
“They’ve engaged big developers and done that well,” Hewson said.
But it has come at a cost. Google is growing by giving app and website creators a bigger chunk of ad sales. In last year’s final quarter,
Google’s portion fell by $33m compared to the year-earlier period even though overall network revenue rose $559m.
The company is feeling the heat. Alphabet shares dipped 5 percent after missing profit estimates this month.
“They are chasing top-line growth and beating the com-petition by losing margins,” said Brian Wieser, a senior analyst with Pivotal Research, a New York City firm that pro-vides stock guidance.
Still, Google’s strategy is winning customers. Google gives developers about 70 cents of every $1 it collects from ad buyers, compared to 50 cents to 60 cents at some competitors.
The high payouts, coupled with Google’s entrenched rela-tionship with millions of advertisers, has turned Google into the main revenue source for many apps. Purchases of in-app ads nearly tripled last year compared to 2016 on Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager, used by advertisers
with the biggest budgets. Over 1.1 million Android
apps include Google’s ad soft-ware, double from a year ago, making it by far the fastest-growing and most widely used ad service, according to research firm MightySignal. Google’s iPhone market share is only slightly behind.
The biggest choice for many app creators is between Google’s AdMob and Double-Click. It is not clear which is growing faster because Google does not provide that data.
AdMob, which was designed specifically for mobile, tends to attract ads promoting apps and smart-phone services. Google bought AdMob for $750 million in 2010, beating a bid from Apple Inc. Google needed technol-ogy fresher than AdSense to deliver in-app ads, according to Sissie Hsiao, who leads the company’s apps business.
“Just taking our web stuff and slapping it on wasn’t going to be a sufficient strategy,” she said.
28 WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2018
INsightback to BUSINESS
CAPITALCOMMENT
Market TalkNAME IN THE MARKET: COST OF INSUFFICIENT SLEEP
Google’s app network quietly becomes huge growth engineREUTERS
As US turns to steel, Canada looks to duck Trump axeBLOOMBERG / TORONTO
Canada, the top steel and aluminum exporter to the US, is hopeful of being left out of a Trump admin-istration crackdown on foreign shipments.
While the US Commerce Department didn’t recom-mend giving its northern neighbor a pass when it outlined possible tariffs and quotas on Friday, it did acknowledge Canada’s importance to the US aluminum industry. Canada accounts for about half of the US’s almost 5 million-metric-ton aluminum deficit, and domestic smelters couldn’t fill that kind of void quickly, ING Bank strategist Oliver Nugent wrote in a note to cli-ents Monday.
For steel, options under consideration include a heavy-handed approach on shipments from 12 coun-tries including China and Russia while allowing for exemptions for allies like Canada and Japan.
“If any country should be granted an exemption, I put my bet on Canada,” Alumi-num Association of Canada President Jean Simard said by telephone.
Canada and the US are key allies and partners, with steel and aluminum industries that are highly integrated and sup-portive of North American jobs and manufacturing supply chains, Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canada’s For-eign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said in emailed statement Friday. Canada will vigorously stress the impor-tance of that trading relationship as it awaits Trump’s final decision, Austen said.
US aluminum producer Alcoa Corp. also said Friday that Canadian metal should be
exempt. Rio Tinto Group also sees room for Canada to be excused.
Trump has until mid-April to decide on any poten-tial action and could still seek negotiations with producers. The president last year ordered the Com-merce Department to probe whether imports of steel and aluminum imperil US national security, invoking the seldom-used Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs without congressional approval.
Imposing tariffs or quotas on metal imports comes amid North American Free Trade Agreement talks, in which the U.S. and Canada have traded regular barbs, accusing each other of not being flexible. The next round of Nafta talks begins in Mexico next week.
“Certainly, any amount of poison being injected by the system makes it a lot more difficult to have a healthy continental economy afterward,” Perrin Beatty, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said by telephone Friday. “Everyone loses” if those recommendations are put in place, he said..
Stuart GulliverHSBC’s outgoing
Chief Executive
I don’t have any regrets…. You have to play the cards you are dealt the best you can and that’s what I have
chosen to do.
Corbyn warns bankers: Finance will serve Britain under Labour governmentREUTERS
LONDON: Britain’s financial sector will be “the servant of industry not the masters of us all” if the opposition Labour Party gets into power, its leader Jeremy Corbyn will say on Tuesday, accusing bankers of taking the economy hostage.
Corbyn, a socialist who has won over many voters with his promises to renationalise serv-ices and increase public spending, has long targeted London’s lucrative financial sector, saying politicians have become in thrall of money makers for too long.
In a speech to a manufac-turers’ conference, Corbyn will renew his pledge to rebalance Britain’s economy if he wins power in an election not due until 2022, and will also criti-cise Prime Minister Theresa
May for offering little clarity over Brexit.
“For a generation, instead of finance serving industry, politicians have served finance. We’ve seen where that ends: the productive economy, our public services and peo-ple’s lives being held hostage by a small number of too big to fail banks and casino finan-cial institutions,” he will say.
“No more. The next Labour government will be the first in 40 years to stand up for the real economy. We will take decisive action to make finance the servant of industry not the masters of us all.”
Big business has been cau-tious towards Labour, with financial services company Morgan Stanley warning investors that Corbyn winning power was a bigger political
risk than Brexit.But they have also started
engaging with the party, and Corbyn’s deputy, Labour’s finance policy adviser John McDonnell took his message that capitalism was living on borrowed time to the global elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year.
Any deep mutual under-standing looks far off for now, with Corbyn promising to end the spread of finance’s “extractive logic” that “has spread into all areas of life with short-term performance and narrow shareholder value prioritised over long-run growth and broader economic benefit”.
The 68-year-old leader will say if in power, his party would protect companies from hostile bids, citing the takeover bid of aero-engineer GKN by Melrose.
Canada and the US are key allies and partners, with steel and aluminum industries that are highly integrated and supportive of North American jobs and manufacturing supply chains,
Google’s ad network unit has posted three straight quarters of year-over-year double-digit sales increases.
