Doha’s inherent economic strengths and the listed companies’ flexibility to adapt to situations have helped many of the constituents to largely encounter the blockade and report strong results, according to a top official of the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).
“Despite the challenging trading environment in Qatar, a consequence of a perceived uncertainty on future earnings for our listed companies, many stocks continue to report strong results, demonstrating the resilience of Qatar’s economy and the quick strategic choices made by individual companies,” QSE chief executive Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori said here at the third annual Investor Relations (IR) award on Tuesday night.
His remarks assume significance considering that Qatar is right now in the ninth month of economic blockade, instigated by some of its Gulf neighbours.
Highlighting that the IR Excellence Programme, developed and executed by Iridium, reflects the bourse’s desire to achieve best international practice among its listed companies for a transparent investment environment; he said “as a best IR practice, it is important for our listed companies to increase transparency during these times of uncertainty”.
Abdul Aziz al-Emadi, director (Listing Department), QSE, said: it has been actively promoting IR for several years and that it wants to see the listed companies committed to improving the flow of information in the market, since they are the corporate ambassadors for Qatar.
“As a direct result of the Excellence Programme, we have noticed that a number of companies have made a meaningful contribution to their IR efforts in 2017. We look forward to seeing a stronger engagement from the remaining companies, in order to further improve the IR standards across all Qatar listed companies,” he added. Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida, Qatar Financial Authority chief executive, said as a global financial centre responsible for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), it attaches great importance on IR and see it as a vital part of Qatar’s economic ecosystem.
The Excellence Programme, launched in 2015, is globally benchmarked against best practices to ensure a transparent methodology. The methodology and all ranking criteria were made public via the QSE’s website and other public channels. This enabled all listed companies to review categories and selection criteria, and gave them several months advance notice to improve their investor relations efforts.
IR awards winners 2018
Five listed companies — QNB, Vodafone Qatar, Ooredoo, Aamal Company and Al Meera — have won the third investor relations (IR) awards, instituted by the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).
QNB was adjudged the best Qatari company overall and also in the large cap segment; while the best mid cap entity was Vodafone Qatar and best small cap was Al Meera.
Ooredoo, QNB and Aamal Company were adjudged the best in investor relations website. The award for best chief financial officer went to Ramzi Mari of QNB and that for best investor relations officer was bagged by Andreas Goldeau of Ooredoo.
The award was developed and executed by Iridium, an investor relations consultancy firm.
Al-Mansoori with the winners of the third annual Investor Relations award.
