Qatar bourse closes New York leg of investor forum

The Qatar delegation, led by al-Mansoori, at the investor forum in New York.

Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), in collaboration with QNB Financial Services and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, yesterday completed a two-day roadshow in New York, the first leg of a week-long exercise to be held, also in London, that aimed to support the further development and practice of QSE’s listed companies’ investor relations.

QSE chief executive officer Rashid al-Mansoori, who led the Qatar delegation, said the forum was designed to complement the companies’ ongoing investor relations activities by providing an opportunity for the senior management of listed companies to meet key decision makers from a number of the world’s largest international fund managers. 

The Qatar delegation was composed of 11 listed companies, representing blue-chip investment opportunities in the Qatari market. They are Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, Ooredoo, Industries Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Company, Gulf International Services, Vodafone, United Development Company, Al Khaliji Commercial Bank, Qatar Electricity & Water, and Milaha. 

Al-Mansoori also said the forthcoming inclusion of Qatar in the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) Emerging Market Index provided a unique opportunity for Qatar to showcase its market-leading listed companies. 

“The strength of the ‘Qatar story’ means portfolio investors would continue to view Qatar as an exciting investment opportunity, a fact that has been reflected in the enthusiastic response to the forum,” al-Mansoori said.

In his speech, al-Mansoori said: “Large infrastructure projects like the Lusail real estate development, new Doha Port, Hamad International Airport, and Doha Metro Rail Project will support growth, going forward.”

Al-Mansoori added that the Qatar’s fiscal stimulus would have a positive influence on attracting foreign investment portfolios. He clarified that investment spending is expected to grow at compound rates of 7.5% over the next five years.

Quoting HE Minister of Economy and Trade Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, al-Mansoori said Qatar will invest around QR664bn on infrastructure projects, excluding projects in the oil and gas sector. 

“Critically, this spending is not dependent on external financing, which should place Qatar at the front of the queue for portfolio investment into those companies likely to benefit from such spending,” al-Mansoori said.

He said Qatar is prominent for financial stability and added: “A combination of structural capital account and trade account surpluses provides a backdrop to the investment climate that cannot be matched in the region or emerging markets universe.” 

According to al-Mansoori, Qatar’s GDP growth “is only of use if it can be turned into future returns.” 

“We would argue that even among the expanded emerging markets universe and not just the GCC the combination of earnings growth, dividends, and sound macro-economic underpinning will be hard to beat, especially the Qatari market dividend yield of 3.9%,” he noted.

Al-Mansoori said Qatari corporates have strong balance sheets with low net gearing and a capacity to borrow, which should be beneficial for return on equity and Qatari corporates have strong sustainable cashflows that support dividend payments.