Baladna in QSE benchmark; Lesha Bank and Medicare find place in Islamic index

The rejig of the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE)’s 20-stock QE Index will take effect from today, replacing Estithmar Holding with Baladna.

The other constituents of the main barometer are QNB, Qatar Islamic Bank, Industries Qatar, Masraf Al Rayan, Nakilat, Commercial Bank, QIIB, Ooredoo, Woqod, QIIB, Milaha, Qatar Electricity and Water, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Dukhan Bank, Barwa, Gulf International Services, Doha Bank, United Development Company, Vodafone Qatar and Qamco.

Companies with a velocity less than 5% are excluded from the review, as are companies whereby a single shareholder can only own less than 1% of outstanding shares.

Medicare Group and Meeza have found place in the QE Al Rayan Islamic Index, while Qatari Investors Group have been removed from the index group, whose other constituents include Qatar Islamic Bank, Industries Qatar, Masraf Al Rayan, QIIB, Ooredoo, Woqod, Qatar Electricity and Water, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Dukhan Bank, Barwa, United Development Company, Vodafone Qatar, Qamco, Al Meera, Qatar National Cement, Baladna, Estithmar Holding and Ezdan.

Al Faleh Educational Holding will join the QE All Share Index as well as Consumer Goods and Services Index.

The All Share Index - which covers all listed stocks with share velocity greater than 1% - acts as an overall benchmark of the market, with over double the number of component stocks versus those included in the QSE index.

Under the new index practices, a review is carried out twice a year to ensure that the selection and weighting of the constituents continue to reflect the purpose of the index.

The indices are calculated as weighted average of the constituent prices; the weight depends on methodology but the majority of indices are weighted by market capitalisation and reviews take place on a regular basis to ensure selected stocks as well as their weightings are correctly representing the underlying market, according to the QSE.

All listed companies are ranked by giving free float market capitalisation with a 50% weight and average daily value traded also 50% weight. Companies with velocity less than 5% are excluded from the review, as are entities whereby a single shareholder can only own less than 1% of outstanding shares.

Any qualifying component exceeding 15% weight in the index as of market close September 26, 2024 will have its weight capped at the 15% level and excess weight allocated to remaining stocks proportionately.

The index free-float for a stock is total outstanding shares minus shares directly owned by government and its affiliates, those held by founders and board members and shareholdings above 10% or greater of the total outstanding (except those held by those held by pension funds in the country).

The bourse has seven sectors – banks and financial services (with 13 constituents), insurance (seven), industrials (10), real estate (four), telecom (two), transportation (three) and consumer goods and services (12) in the ‘All Share Index’.